The mosque sits right on the waterfront and encompasses a large area inside and out...space for 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 in the courtyard!!
This is the only mosque in Morocco where non-Muslims may enter and this can only be done on an official tour, between times of worship.
There was a scheduled tour at 11:00am...we were running late ...so we hurried along in hopes of getting there in time...good thing we had some sense of direction. To our surprise we arrived with 2 minutes to spare.
What an incredible structure!! Everywhere you looked there were beautiful things to see, from magnificent chandeliers, intricate woodwork, mosaics and hand crafted plasterwork...using only the best materials such as cedar, marble, granite and glass from Venice.
It was massive and at times I felt a kink in my neck from constantly looking up...the ceilings were fantastic!
In the worship area we had to remove our shoes and were allowed to take photos...it was very dark and not a lot of stopping on the tour, so limited photo opportunities which was a shame.
The lower level of the mosque was where worshippers washed before worship...men and women separately...and on the other side there was a huge Hammam that has never been used since the mosque opened in 1993.
As with all mosques it faces Mecca, however here they have the added feature of a laser that projects from the minaret towards Mecca. The minaret is a stunning feature itself...the tallest in the world, standing 200m high. Based on the immense size of this mosque it is no wonder it took 6 years and over 1,400 people working day and night to complete!
When our tour finished we walked around the exterior portions of the mosque. It's right on the ocean...and the water was crashing in...so it was a nice area to relax, listen to the water and get away from the noise of the city center.
The outside of this building is just as beautiful and I could not stop taking pictures!!...reminded me of the Taj Mahal due to it's grandness.
At about 1:00pm we decided to head toward the medina...old city...area. Casablanca is a big city...3 million people...and it appears to have lots of development going on. The entire coastline we walked along was building after building of new construction...very odd to see huge, modern buildings on one side of the road and the medina wall on the other.
We were on the lookout for a restaurant we read about that was located in an 18th century bastion of the medina wall.
La Sqala was located immediately as you entered the medina and was full of people...businessmen, tourists and locals of all ages. The vibe of the restaurant was nice and we had lunch in the calmness of the garden area...chicken skewers, fresh veggies, orange blossom and almond pastilla for dessert, along with Marrakech mint tea.
A great way to spend my birthday in Casablanca!
We stayed at the restaurant for over 2 hours enjoying our meal, relaxing and using the wifi...the wait staff here were great as well, especially our smiley waiter...but all good things must come to an end, so we finally headed on our way around 4:00pm.
On our way back towards our apartment we decided to look in a few shops to finish some last minute shopping. The medina was very different from everywhere else...the products were not as nice, more household goods and the people were more aggressive, calling you names when you wouldn't come into their shops....not my favourite shopping experience...perhaps the result of being in a big, bustling city.
As we left the medina we started to come across stalls setting up...food vendors for the evening crowd that was starting to come out. Everything from grilled veggies, fish, lamb sausages, beef, brochettes, peanuts, coconut, pineapple, dates, freshly squeezed orange juice, sesame snaps...you name it!
We also came across an area with all kinds of murals...very nice.
We made it back to the apartment by 5:30pm only to realize we still needed to change some of our money (dirhams) back to Canadian dollars. What we thought would be a simple task ended up taking us on a walk almost back to the medina before we found a spot open, that had money...we cleaned out the money exchange of Canadian dollars!
Back now at the apartment we are packing up...no sunset to see tonight as it is overcast and spitting rain. It will be an early start with a 5:00am pick up for the airport...hopefully our cab arrives on time! We have a 17 hour journey ahead of us through Paris and Montreal...looking forward to smooth sailing.
Until then...from home.
Lisa & Lisa
Lisa, thank you so much for taking the time to document your trip for us - your stories and your pictures have been AMAZING! So interesting to follow along. Thanks again and safe journey home!
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