Casablanca

The Hassan II Mosque rises from the Atlantic on a platform of white granite, its 210-metre minaret the tallest religious structure in the world, its prayer hall open to the sea through a retractable roof. Casablanca is not the Morocco of medinas and mountains — it is the Morocco of Art Deco facades, Mauresque architecture, modernist ambition, and a waterfront that faces west toward the Americas. The city is commercial, loud, and unapologetically contemporary, its energy closer to Marseille or Buenos Aires than to Fes or Marrakech.

Casablanca is Morocco's largest city and economic capital, home to approximately four million people. The Hassan II Mosque, completed in 1993, is the city's defining landmark — its 210-metre minaret is the world's tallest, and the mosque's position on a platform extending over the Atlantic is an engineering achievement of global significance. Non-Muslim visitors may enter on guided tours. Beyond the mosque, Casablanca's architectural heritage includes one of the world's largest collections of Art Deco buildings, concentrated in the city centre, alongside Mauresque (Moorish-revival) and modernist structures from the French Protectorate era. The Corniche waterfront, the Central Market, and the Habous quarter offer distinct facets of the city. Rick's Café, inspired by the 1942 film, operates as a restaurant in the medina.