Added: 05/23/2006 |
Casablanca, Morocco - Extol the Country's Unique Living HistoryCasablanca, Morocco is the largest city in the country. It may have been made famous by Humphrey Bogart but in reality, the city is a thriving and efficient business location. While Marrakech lays claim to being Morocco's cultural capital, Casablanca is synonymous with wealth, style and big-city variety.
Casablanca, Morocco doesn't really have a lot to offer to tourists. Most of the foreign visitors come to this city for business purposes. There are only a couple of reasons for a tourist to visit this city by the Atlantic: one of the biggest mosques in the world, the Hassan II Mosque; and its international Airport -- most international flights to Morocco do a stop over in this city.
The centre of Casablanca is fairly impressive. It's brand modern, with big, lively boulevards, high, white, well-kept buildings. And it's clean and efficient. People visiting Casablanca as their first city, could easily end up hating this place: there are few things here confirming the newcomer's conception on the Orient. But the people that have visited other parts of Morocco first find Casablanca to be pretty good. The city is modern in a Moroccan way, and an excellent example of Moroccans capacity of taking charge of the future of their country.
But as soon as you step out of the impressive centre of town, the extreme poverty and prostitution only to be matched by Tangier is what you'll find without even looking for it. No other place in the country displays bigger differences between the haves and the have-nots.
The old city of Casablanca, Morocco is small, consisting mainly of smaller houses, which all seem to be from this century, and the alleyways dominating in other old cities, are rarely found here. Some thousand people live here, and in one or two spots, true beauty occurs. There is also a good market here.
If you are going to spend one day in Casablanca, Morocco, you have to go to the Hassan II Mosque. Although this is a modern monument it is still Casablanca's main tourist attraction. The Mosque of Hassan II is not only one of the biggest religious buildings in the world, but one of the most expensive too. The mosque has the tallest minaret in the world, with 210 meters, and room for 25,000 worshippers. The area surrounding the mosque is under construction.
Among the most visible aspects of Casablanca are the wide boulevards flanked by white, tall buildings. The streets run out as the leaves of a fan from the Place de Nations Unies. This place is the focal point of downtown Casablanca, and also the point where the modern town meets the medina.
Other interesting things to do in Casablanca are a visit to the beach at Ain Diab, where you can see how modern Casablanca youth is; Lusitania, the Jewish district of Casablanca; the Place Mohammed V, with its French colonial architecture. The offer of places to stay is very wide in Casablanca. Casablanca hotels range from luxury 5 star hotels to cheap pensions.
If you are looking for some night life in Casablanca go to downtown, around Boulevard Mohammed V, or to the beach front, Boulevard de la Corniche.
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