Casablanca is often portrayed as a city without history, focused solely on its role as Morocco's economic capital. This reputation deserves some nuance.
Beneath the modern towers and the hustle and bustle of the kingdom's largest metropolis lies a rich heritage: a lost ancient city, a medina rebuilt after a natural disaster, one of the most studied colonial urban developments in North Africa, and one of the most impressive religious monuments in the world.
Casablanca in Antiquity: The Forgotten City of Anfa
The history of Casablanca begins long before its current name.
At the site of the city stood Anfa, a city founded, according to sources, around the 7th century, on a site inhabited since the Paleolithic era.
Anfa became an important port, influenced by Berber, Phoenician, and Roman cultures over the centuries. In the 8th century, it was even the capital of the Berber kingdom of Barghawata, according to the Encyclopædia Universalis.
In 1468, the city was razed by a Portuguese expedition led by Prince Ferdinand, brother of King Afonso V, in retaliation for piracy activities conducted there. The chronicler Leo Africanus, who visited the ruins in the early 16th century, doubted that the site would ever be inhabited again.
The Portuguese Fortress and Casa Branca
The Portuguese returned to settle on the site in 1515 and built a fortress they named Casa Branca ("white house"). A new core of housing developed around this fortress: the heart of today's old medina of Casablanca.
Weakened by attacks from neighboring tribes, the Portuguese eventually abandoned the city, an episode that several sources link to the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, which severely affected the Moroccan Atlantic coast.
The Renaissance under the Alaouite Sultans
At the end of the 18th century, the Alaouite Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah — the same sovereign who founded Essaouira — had the ramparts rebuilt and the city reconstructed. It then took the name Dar el-Beïda, "the white house" in Arabic, a direct translation of the Portuguese name.
Casablanca (a Spanish deformation of the same name) gradually became an active trading port, frequented by European merchants.
Casablanca and the Protectorate: The Birth of an Economic Capital
The turning point in Casablanca's history occurred at the beginning of the 20th century.
When Marshal Lyautey arrived in 1912, the city had only about 20,000 inhabitants. The construction of a large artificial port, started in 1913, and the signing of the protectorate treaty the same year radically transformed its destiny.
In 1914, Lyautey appointed urban planner Henri Prost to lead the city's Architecture and Planning service. Prost presented his first development plan in 1915, based on the separation between the traditional medina and a new European city. This plan made Casablanca a reference in urban planning, according to the Casamémoire association, which specializes in 20th-century architectural heritage in Morocco.
In just a few decades, Casablanca became the country's largest urban area and its economic capital — a status it still holds today as the main metropolis in North Africa after Cairo.
What to See in Casablanca?
The Hassan II Mosque
Completed in 1993 after seven years of construction, the Hassan II Mosque is the largest mosque in Morocco and one of the largest in the world. Its minaret rises to 210 meters, making it the tallest religious building in the world.
Partly built over the Atlantic Ocean, its prayer hall can accommodate around 25,000 worshippers, with its esplanade able to hold an additional 80,000 people. It is one of the few Moroccan mosques open to non-Muslim visitors through guided tours at set times.
The Old Medina of Casablanca
Born around the Portuguese fortress of Casa Branca in the 16th century, the old medina of Casablanca was largely rebuilt after the damages of the 18th century. It remains more modest and less touristy than the grand imperial medinas of the country.
Several buildings today face the threat of collapse due to insufficient maintenance, making a visit all the more valuable as long as it retains its popular and authentic character, with traditional shops and immediate proximity to the port.
Discover the Old Medina of Casablanca
The Habous District
Designed in the 1930s under the urban planning scheme of the protectorate, the Habous district reinterprets the codes of traditional Moroccan architecture — arcades, alleys, patios — within a fully planned urban environment, unlike the organically developed medinas over the centuries.
Souks, bookstores, and traditional pastry shops make it a lively area as well as an architectural curiosity, often referred to as the "new medina."
Mahkamat al-Pacha
Built between 1941 and 1952 in the Habous district, based on designs by French architect Auguste Cadet, this former court of the pasha of Casablanca spans about 6,000 m² and includes over sixty rooms.
Its construction, started during World War II when modern materials were requisitioned for the war effort, relied on traditional techniques: stone from Ben Slimane and Bouskoura, zelliges and green tiles from Fez, and hand-carved cedar ceilings from the Atlas. The building continues to house administrative services, which typically requires accompanied access for interior visits.
The Sqala
Restored in 1769 under Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah, the Sqala is an old defensive fortress equipped with cannons, built to protect the port of Casablanca from maritime attacks.
Adjoining the walls of the old medina, it has now been converted into a dining and promenade area while retaining its thick walls and original fortified atmosphere.
The Sacred Heart Church
Built in the 1930s in a style blending neo-Gothic and Art Deco, the Sacred Heart Church has not served for worship since Morocco's independence but remains one of the most recognizable monuments of colonial Casablanca.
Its stained glass and slender silhouette have made it a filming location and a highly appreciated visual landmark for photographers, especially at sunset.
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The Ettedgui Synagogue
Casablanca has long housed one of the most significant Jewish communities in Morocco, as the city established itself as the country's primary economic center. The Ettedgui Synagogue, still maintained and active, is a testament to this heritage.
It is one of the few synagogues still in operation in the old medina and complements Casablanca's multi-faith heritage alongside its churches and mosques.
Discover the Ettedgui Synagogue
The Villa des Arts
Housed in an elegant Art Deco villa from the 1930s, the Villa des Arts in Casablanca is one of the main exhibition spaces dedicated to contemporary Moroccan art in the country.
Temporary exhibitions and a permanent collection engage with the architecture of the venue, symbolizing the built heritage of the colonial period repurposed for current creativity.
The Abderrahman Slaoui Museum
Opened in 2014, this museum showcases the personal collection of patron Abderrahman Slaoui: traditional Moroccan jewelry, vintage advertising posters, glassware, and art objects gathered over a lifetime of collecting.
It offers a unique perspective on Moroccan artistic heritage, far from large institutional collections, and subtly traces the visual and advertising history of the city in the 20th century.
Discover the Abderrahman Slaoui Museum
Mohammed V Square
Bordered by iconic administrative buildings in the neo-Moorish and Art Deco styles of the 1920s-1930s — including the Wilaya and the former Palace of Justice — Mohammed V Square constitutes the historical institutional heart of Casablanca, directly inherited from Henri Prost's urban planning scheme.
Its central fountain and coherent architecture make it one of the best-preserved urban ensembles from the French protectorate era in Morocco.
Getting Around Casablanca
Casablanca has some of the most developed transport infrastructure in Morocco.
The tramway connects several key neighborhoods of the city, including the historic downtown. Small red taxis operate on a meter for intra-city trips, while larger taxis serve longer routes. Uber is also available in Casablanca, a rarity in other Moroccan cities.
The city is served by a high-speed train from Tangier and an international airport (Mohammed V), making it the main air gateway to the country.
Casablanca, a Heritage to Rediscover
Casablanca is not limited to its image as a modern and bustling metropolis.
From ancient Anfa to the Portuguese fortress, from the Alaouite reconstruction of the 18th century to the exceptional urban laboratory of the protectorate, the city has accumulated layers of history that are both dense and overlooked.
Between the Hassan II Mosque, a contemporary monument already iconic, and the old medina that has withstood the test of time, Casablanca offers a heritage that is both ancient and resolutely modern — much like the city itself.
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