Old Medina of Casablanca

Casablanca is a twentieth-century city and its medina is the exception - a compact walled quarter, largely rebuilt after an earthquake in 1755 and much smaller than the medinas of Fes or Marrakech, which was the whole town before the French built the modern city around it from 1907. It has the Sqala, a bastion with cannon looking out to sea, built in the eighteenth century and now with a restaurant in it, and a clock tower on the wall that was put up under the protectorate, demolished in the 1940s and rebuilt in 1993. Inside are ordinary shopping lanes - clothes, electronics, spices, fish - rather than craft souks, and the quarter is residential and poor in parts. It is worth two or three hours as the one piece of old Casablanca, and it is not comparable to the great medinas; the city's real interest is its twentieth-century architecture.

What's there

• A small walled quarter - the whole town before the French city was built around it.
• The Sqala - an eighteenth-century sea bastion with cannon, now holding a restaurant.
• A rebuilt clock tower - a protectorate original demolished and reconstructed in 1993.
• Ordinary shopping lanes - clothes and electronics rather than craft souks.

When to go

October to April. Two to three hours.

What to expect

It is not comparable to Fes or Marrakech - much smaller and largely rebuilt. Parts are run-down and need ordinary city care with valuables. There are few monuments inside. Casablanca's real architectural interest is the twentieth-century city outside it.

Nearby

The Hassan II mosque is west along the shore; Mohammed V square is south.

Key facts