Here's looking at you kid

Sunset over the towering minaret
of the Hassan II mosque

Sadly, there's nothing about the iconic movie “Casablanca” to link it to the Moroccan port city of the same name. Even the legendary Ric’s café was a Hollywood set although some enterprising woman has opened her version of the drinking hole near the dock.

Hassan II mosque

Palacial, immaculate interior
complete with retractable roof

But you don’t have to rely on Hollywood to be impressed by Casablanca. Most notably, the massive Hassan II Mosque with its towering minaret visible above the dock’s cranes from out to sea.

The mosque accommodates 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 outside.  Inaugurated in 1993 the mosque is exquisitely decorated in marble, gold, wood carvings and Murano glass chandeliers.  

The building also has some very modern features - electric doors, a massive retractable roof and a glass floor that allows worshippers to kneel directly over the sea.

Driving 90 miles south west from Casablanca to the port town of El Jadida another must see is the old walled city founded by the Portuguese.  Within the old town the hallmark building is a former warehouse that was converted in the 16^th century into a cistern or underground reservoir.  The underground chamber was constructed with beautiful arched pillars.  Five rows, each with five stone pillars, hold up the ceiling with a small circular opening to the sky. 

The Portuguese cistern - a watery basement lit by
 shafts of daylight becomes a photographic treasure

The cistern is popular with visitors because of the pools of water that collect on the stone floor creating magical reflections from the small portal of light above.  As the sun streams in, small shafts of light create unusual lighting and together with the incessant drips which fall into the pooled water the atmosphere is palpable. 

The basement space has been a popular location for movie sets - the most famous of which was Orson Wells’ 1952 rendition of  “Othello”. 

Back in Casablanca that evening the sun set quickly and fell from the sky like a stone, creating a magnificent backdrop of gold and orange for the impressive Hassan II mosque.