Morocco (avec) mon amour. Part 1 — Casablanca
This article was written in 2019 after I traveled Morocco for the whole month of March with my-then-boyfriend Mehdi. In 20 days of the road trip, we have visited 12 different places. And it has started in Casablanca.
I made an edit and a significant addition to this piece in July 2024, five happy years later, after spending another full month only in Casablanca.
A lot has changed since then!
This time, I came as a wife of Mehdi and a mother of our daughter Jasmine.
I still haven’t watched “Casablanca”.
Morocco is still as colorful, tasty to almost illegal levels, welcoming, and overall quite nice.
Casablanca
What first comes to your mind when you hear the name of this city? A movie, right?
To my shame, I still haven’t watched the famous ‘Casablanca’ movie by Michael Curtiz (1942), the funny fact is that it was shot entirely in California and Los Angeles, and not a single scene was shot in Casablanca.
Casablanca is a gate to Africa, a big entry port to the rest of the continent. This was also the first city of our journey. Despite being geographically located on the ocean, Casablancans don’t have access to the water. Only recently the part of the oceanside (La Corniche) was cleared and arranged for people to take a walk, run, enjoy a coffee with the view (personally, I took an avocado juice; don’t repeat my mistake), and basically enjoy life.
What else is Casablanca famous for?
Hassan II Mosque — the largest mosque in Africa, completed in 1993.
Construction costs, estimated to be about 585 million euros, were an issue of debate in Morocco, a lower mid-income country. While Hassan wished to build a mosque that would be second in size only to the mosque at Mecca, the government lacked funds for such a grand project. Much of the financing was by public subscription. Twelve million people donated (sometimes involuntarily) to the cause, with a receipt and certificate given to every donor. The smallest contribution was 5 dirhams. In addition to public donations and those from business establishments and Arab countries (such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia), western countries provided construction loans.
Street art & murals
I am a huge fan of street art, murals, and any sort of creative exploration of the urban space around us. Last year I set up an Instagram account (@lesmursmurmurent) — a collection of street wisdom from mostly Kyiv and places I occasionally visit. You can find the full collection here.
Casablanca has pleasantly surprised me with its wall art, look what I found there:
Mosaics
I started paying attention to mosaics and ornaments when I was studying in Portugal—the art of azulejo — famous Portuguese tiles stolen my heart forever since. I am crazy about ornaments, patterns, and colors in the tiles and mosaics. The mosaics below are mostly from around the Hasan II Mosque, I wouldn’t say they are very much present around the city. Casablanca didn’t leave the impression of being a very decorated city anyway.
As for me, the mosaics are breathtaking:
Bazaars
Art Deco Architecture (Mauresque)
On our second trip in June 2024, I had more time to explore the city from its different angles. Even though I honestly wouldn’t call Casablanca very walkable, I still got my fair share of lovely long-distance walks.
What I couldn’t ever imagine is that Casablanca is such a time-machine portal!
Art Deco architecture at every corner, history breathing through these looks… Shockingly beautiful, and not less shockingly poorly taken care of.
Part of the city where we were staying and where I was wandering most, is located in the port, so all the surroundings are covered in black dust. Sad truth!
Casablanca went through serious architectural growth during the days of the French Protectorate (essentially, french occupation of Morocco, let’s call things their real names here, ok?).
The economic development that was implemented by General Lyautey (1854–1934) is represented by grand boulevards and a style of architecture that blends the curving lines of Art Deco with traditional Moroccan features like zellige, interior courtyards and climate-adapted design.
Many of the best works of Mauresque architecture in Casablanca are on the streets bounded by Mohammed V and Avenue Lalla Yacout to the north and south, and Rue du Prince Moulay Abdellah and rue Ibn Batouta to the west and east.
One of the prominent examples is Cinema Rialto, which is symbolic of a time when the culture of entertainment and recreation shaped Casablanca.
Chet Baker, Édith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, and many others filled this cinema which was once also a theater and a concert hall.
Also see Hotel Guynemer (2 rue Brahim Belloul), Hotel Transatlantique (79 rue Chaoui), and Hotel Lincoln, in a state of semi-ruin across from the Marché Central.
Some other great examples of architecture I spotted are here:
Villa des Arts de Casablanca
Close to the intersection of the Zertouni and Roudani Boulevards, the Villa des Arts de Casablanca is managed by the ONA Foundation.
This arts organization stages exhibitions, seminars, music performances, and educational workshops, in Casablanca and Rabat.
The Casablanca location is an exquisite Art Deco villa from 1934, and it is mainly a place to come to sample Moroccan art at temporary exhibitions.
While the exhibition seemed to me a bit raw and not really up to the standard (here are some of the works:),
I was blown away by the quality of the almanac released seasonally by the Foundation that manages Villas des Arts of Casablanca and Rabat — Diptyk, which was distributed for free at the entrance to the Villa.
Not that I check Diptyk’s website, I see that at the e-shop and in the kiosks the price is 25 euros, and believe me, if you are an art lover and searching for fresh ideas, this magazine is well worth the investment!
This magazine will turn your world and knowledge about Africa, Morocco in particular, and its art scene upside down!
Musée de la Fondation Abderrahman Slaoui
An elegant 1940s Art Deco villa, just west of Place Mohammed V, houses this museum presenting the collections of Abderrahman Slaoui (1919–2001), a Moroccan businessman and decorative Moroccan art collector.
With old posters, Moroccan jewelry, figurative paintings by Muhammad Ben Ali Rbati, landscape paintings by Jacques Majorelle (this is who owned the Marrakesh Villa of Jardin de Majorelle before Yves Saint Laurent, who the villa is named after), and crystal objects.
A morning spent in this gem will give you a new appreciation for the art of Morocco and beyond.
A highlight is a set of more than 80 vintage posters, for tourism and North African products.
There are also marvelous pieces by master jewelers from the 19th and 20th centuries and a remarkable study of traditional Moroccan costumes conducted by photographer and designer Jean Besancenot in the 1930s.
You can pore over works by Mohammed Ben Ali R’bati, held as the first Moroccan figurative painter, and the first to feature in European exhibitions.
It’s compact, but very nicely arranged and provides insights into Moroccan decorative art.
Dream Village
About halfway between Casablanca and Mohammedia, close to the forêt des Cascades, there is a resort with an ecological theme.
The main attraction at Dream Village is the zoo, where trails wind through landscaped greenery next to basic but mostly well-maintained enclosures for tigers, lions, flamingos, emus, bison, bears, and waterfowl like swans and ducks.
There’s a leisure park too, aimed mainly at children, with slides, pools, pedal boats and rides, and an equestrian club for horseback riding lessons and treks. It wasn’t working though, at the time of our visit (June 2024).
The zoo is compact enough to visit in 2–3 hours, which is ideal for the kids, and is packed with various animals, that are kept in good and loving conditions. The staff was very friendly too! They generously shared carrots with us to feed the giraffe and the monkeys.
All in all, we loved it!
***
The next stop on our way (in 2019) was the colorful town of Chefchaouen. It left me completely speechless and I decided to dedicate a whole new chapter to it— part 2.
