Casablanca

Casablanca has one of the biggest mosques in the world. The tower is more than 200m high. Every Moroccan civil servant "volunteered" one month’s pay to contribute to the cost of building it.

The mosque is a mixture of modern and classical techniques. Traditional work is apparent in the green ceramic roof tiles,

echoed in the metallic work on the doors (it appears to be cast, whereas in Spain it would have been wrought);

and copied in the concrete arches of the Medersa and Islamic Library that flank the mosque courtyard. The city also has a couple of attractive colonial buildings from the French era.

Sadly, we didn’t have a chance to see the European quarter, which is well known for its 20s and 30s architecture.

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