Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
more young Casablancais are realising that they come from a country with a fascinating
history.
Casablanca is full of contradictions. It is home to wide boulevards, well-kept public
parks, fountains and striking colonial architecture, but is also fringed by large shanty
towns and simmering social problems.
The bleak facades of the suburbs stand in sharp contrast to the Mauresque, art deco and
modernist gems of the city centre, and to Casablanca's exceptional landmark, the enorm-
ous and incredibly ornate Hassan II Mosque.
The medina - the oldest part of town - is tiny and sits in the north of the city close to
the port. To the south of the medina is Pl des Nations Unies, a large traffic junction that
marks the heart of the city. The city's main streets branch out from here: Ave des Forces
Armées Royales (Ave des FAR), Ave Moulay Hassan I, Blvd Mohammed V and Blvd
Houphouët Boigny.
Ave Hassan II leads to Pl Mohammed V, easily recognised by its grand art deco admin-
istrative buildings. Quartiers Gauthier and Maarif, west and southwest of the Parc de la
Ligue Arabe, are where most of the action is, with shops, bars and restaurants.
To the southeast is the Quartier Habous (also known as the nouvelle medina) and to the
west is Aïn Diab, the beachfront suburb home to upmarket hotels and nightclubs.
Development in Casablanca today is so exciting that you'd think the ghosts of General
Lyautey and Henri Prost were working on a new plan for the city, though this time with
Moroccan pride rather than French colonial might. The new tramway has eased some of
the pressures of Casablanca's interminable traffic, and improved the city centre environ-
ment enormously. Along the coastal road in Anfa, huge new projects are being built. The
new environmentally friendly, award-winning 200,000-sq-metre Morocco Mall, the
biggest 'destination mall' in North Africa, houses shops and offices as well as a large
aquarium and a 400-seater IMAX theatre. On the coast east of the Hassan II Mosque the
Casablanca Marina remains a few years from being completed, along with the under-re-
furbishment Casa Port train station. Casablanca today is showing a confident face to the
rest of Morocco - and the world.
History
The Phoenicians established a small trading post in the now-upmarket suburb of Anfa
from the 6th century BC onwards. In the 7th century AD, Anfa became a regional capital
