MOSQUE OF HASSAN II : Completed in 1993 after six years of work by more than 30,000 craftsmen, its proportions are totalitarian. Its 200-metre minaret is the world’s tallest and in area only the mosque at Mecca is bigger.
BOULEVARD D’ANFA : This wide, palm-fringed avenue is meant for slow cruising. The side streets around here are rapidly filling with French brand names such as Carré Blanc and children’s store Sergent Major. The target market for these high-end boutiques and stores lives out in the western suburbs, notably Anfa, where the cool, clean lines of Deco villas are just visible above the immaculately manicured hedgerows. It is like the Beverly Hills of Morocco, but with better architecture.
ARTE A BEAUTE AU 9 : This is a gorgeous two-storey villa, which has been converted into a beauty centre and art gallery, where abstracts of arrows and spirals compete with mirrors for the attentions of pampered Casablancan madams. Owner Said Tlemcani plans to export the concept to New York.
CATHEDRALE DU SACRE COEUR : Designed by Paul Tournon in 1930 and bequeathed to the city by the Vatican. Bereft of furnishings, the interior is a soaring, skeletal space with 40 rib-like columns. At present the cathedral serves as a glorified village hall playing host to temporary art exhibitions and craft fairs.
RICK’S CAFE : Until Casablanca gets a recognised ‘Art Deco district’ of its own, there’s that other bit of faux heritage to trade on, so welcome to Rick’s Café. Kathy Kriger, a former commercial councillor with the local US consulate, invested in a harbourside property on the edge of the old Medina and turned it into a homage to Casablanca. No matter that Rick’s Café never existed and that the whole film was shot in Burbank. The sets were, however, constructed with reference to thousands of photographs taken in Casablanca; Kriger turned to similar source material for help in creating the interiors of her bar-resraurant.
MARCHE CENTRAL : Each day, at the Marche Central, a part of the morning’s catch is laid out for sale. In the area around here you’ll find landmarks such as the Hotel Transatlantique, built in 1922, and the Rialto cinema, dating from eight years later, which, as well as screening movies, was host to musical stars including Edith Piaf and Josephine Baker.
LC ANFA, AIESEC in Morocco 