Casablanca, Morocco: Still Humming Along As Time Goes By

It’s hard to think of a city whose essence is more intertwined with a movie than Morocco’s Casablanca. The very mention of the name brings to mind immediate and vivid images, almost as if we’ve been there before. Rick’s Café, those forever-quoted lines and that poignant song have created a feeling of what we imagine Casablanca the city to be. Except that Casablanca the movie wasn’t even filmed in Morocco. And Rick’s Café didn’t exist in 1942, when the film was made. The romantic Casablanca of our imaginations is courtesy of Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, California.

So what is the real Casablanca like? Is there any speck of a resemblance to the titular city from the classic film?

Morocco’s largest city began as a 15th-century town called Anfa and was renamed three hundred years later as ad-Dār al-Baydā, Moroccan Arabic for “The White House.” In the late 19th century, Portuguese mariners translated the Arabic name to “Casa Branca,” referring to the white tower that identified the city. When the Spanish took over trade through the Iberian Union, the name “Casablanca” was born.

You Must Remember This

It was our last day in Morocco, and Herb and I were headed out on an all-day excursion to explore the highlights of Casablanca as well as the capital city of Rabat. In a delightful twist of fate, our guide turned out to be “Moose,” who had led us through Marrakech the previous day. He seemed as happy to see a few familiar faces in our group as we were to see him.

Our bus rounded a corner on the way to our first stop, and Moose called attention to the doorway of a white building flanked by palm trees on the other side of the street. And there it was, Rick’s Cafe, fiction and realty colliding on a Casablanca street corner. The 20-year-old restaurant has recreated the mythical saloon from the film, “transforming a Hollywood dream into a Casablanca reality,” as its website states.

Hassan II Mosque

Our first stop was Hassan II Mosque, a popular destination for Casablanca visitors. Constructed partially on land and partially on a platform overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, it was completed in 1993 and is the 14th largest mosque in the world. The mosque’s minaret is the world’s second tallest at 689 feet and is topped with a laser beam directed toward Mecca.

Hassan II Mosque is the only mosque in Morocco that allows non-Muslims to enter the interior. Visitors must be accompanied by a guide and may not enter during prayer hours. Having visited the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Oman a few years ago, I had come prepared with a bag for my shoes and a scarf to cover my head. But surprisingly, we were asked only to remove our shoes; head coverings were not required.

The mosque’s interior is enormous, accommodating 105,000 worshippers – 25,000 inside and 80,000 outside – and has a retractable roof. The stunning design reflects beautiful Islamic architectural details similar to what we’d seen in Marrakech and at the Alhambra. As Moose guided us through the interior, he emphasized that Moroccan Muslims get along well with their Christian and Jewish neighbors. “We’ve never had religious conflicts,” he told us. “Harmony, tolerance, that’s what we believe.”

The Quartier Habous

Our next stop was the Quartier Habous, developed during the French Protectorate period in Casablanca in the 1920s and 1930s. Also known as the New Medina, the neighborhood provided housing for merchants and their families from other parts of Morocco. The charge to architect Henri Prost was to design a space that respected the traditional style of the old medina while incorporating new standards of urban planning. The name habous refers to the religious assembly that allocated dwellings with the medina.

Moose led our group on a walking tour of the neighborhood, pointing out architectural details and taking us inside several souks. It is clearly a much calmer and less intense scene than the souks in Marrakech. Vendors sell the typical Moroccan fare including fruits and vegetables, spices, pottery and handwoven carpets.

On Finding Casablanca

Soon it was time to return to the bus for our one-hour drive up the coast to Rabat. As we headed out of Casablanca, I couldn’t help feeling that driving through the streets of this city of more than three million people mirrors almost any other large metropolis – towering office buildings, multi-lane roadways and all that rush-hour traffic. Except for the Bank of Africa sign atop one of the buildings, you might be hard-pressed to even know which continent you’re visiting.

The Casablanca of 1942 Hollywood is a romantic notion. Marrakech, with its frenetic souks and Jemaa el-fnaa Square could easily have served as inspiration for the movie. But Casablanca? Probably not.

But then again…Later that night back at the port, when we stepped onto our balcony, the bright green beam from Hassan II Mosque’s minaret was flooding the sky. The air was balmy, and the reflections of lights beyond a nearby cargo ship danced and shimmered in the water. Maybe Casablanca and Casablanca are rooted in the romance of traveling to a faraway land so different from our own.

Maybe they really are the same place after all.