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Beyond Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca holds one of the world’s finest surviving art deco districts — a 1930s French Protectorate streetscape of stepped cornices, ornamental ironwork and Moorish-meets-Manhattan facades. Here is how to walk it properly.
Amelia Hart· Itineraries & Trip Planning Editor
British writer who has built and road-tested Morocco itineraries for everyone from honeymooners to families. She covers multi-day routes, costs, the best time to visit and how to plan a first trip. Casablanca · 9+ years covering Morocco
Published 28 January 2025 Last updated 27 April 2026
Most people give Casablanca two or three hours — visit the mosque, photograph the Corniche, catch the train. What they miss is the downtown Ville Nouvelle, a grid of colonnaded boulevards and ornate residential blocks that were built between roughly 1910 and 1955 and represent one of the most complete surviving examples of French art deco urbanism anywhere in the world. Think Miami Beach or Buenos Aires, but with Hispano-Moorish tile panels and Arabic script worked into the geometry.
The neighbourhood is entirely free to explore on foot, takes two to four hours depending on how deep you want to go, and involves no ticket queues, no crowds and no glossy souvenir stalls. You just walk, look up, and wonder how this city ended up with so many extraordinary buildings that so few visitors bother to see.
This guide gives you the key buildings, a practical walking route, honest time and cost estimates, and advice on whether to go self-guided or with a private architect-guide who knows which doors to knock on.
All five stops are within a 1.5 km radius of each other in the downtown core. Times are approximate and assume a leisurely pace with photography.
The civic heart of French Protectorate Casablanca, ringed by the Palais de Justice, the Wilaya (Prefecture) and the old Post Office — all built in the 1920s–30s in a style that mixes art deco geometry with Moorish ornament. The fountain in the centre runs at night with coloured lights.
Walk the length of this ceremonial avenue slowly and look up: the colonnaded arcades hide extraordinary façades — stepped cornices, bas-relief panels, wrought-iron balconies and fluted pilasters. The ground floors are mostly pharmacies and phone shops now, which makes the upper storeys feel like a secret that nobody else has noticed.
Built 1930–1952 by architect Paul Tournon, this is a study in concrete deco — soaring ogival arches meet art deco massing in a way that is unlike anything in Europe. The building was deconsecrated after independence and now hosts cultural events; entry is free when exhibitions are running.
The covered market on Rue Chaouia dates from 1917, but the surrounding residential and commercial blocks built through the 1930s show the full range of the local deco idiom: ornamental friezes, porthole windows, and corner towers with glazed tiles. Buy a coffee from one of the cafés on Rue de Foucauld and observe life at street level.
The wide garden at the south end of the downtown grid is the right place to end the walk. Look back north toward the cathedral and the layered skyline of Maarif and Gauthier — the contrast between the modest deco neighbourhood and the new towers behind it is oddly affecting.
The walk below covers roughly 4 km and fits comfortably into a morning or late afternoon. Wear comfortable shoes — the pavements under the arcades can be uneven.
Start at Place Mohammed V. Spend half an hour walking the perimeter of the square, checking the carved stonework on the Palais de Justice and the arched windows of the Wilaya. Early morning (before 9 am) is best: fewer cars and excellent low light for photographs.
Head north-west along Boulevard Mohammed V under the arcades. Cross Rue Mohammed el-Qorri and keep walking for about 600 m. Look for the ornamental ironwork on balconies above the tiled arcade ceilings.
Turn left on Rue Allal Ben Abdallah toward the Marché Central. Explore the blocks immediately south and east of the market — Rue Chaouia and Rue Colbert (now renamed) have dense clusters of late-deco residential buildings.
Double back south along Rue Prince Moulay Abdallah and cut through the Gauthier neighbourhood if time allows. This residential quarter, built mostly 1935–1950, is the most intact in the city and largely overlooked by visitors.
Finish at the Sacré-Cœur cathedral on Boulevard Rachidi, then rest in the Parc de la Ligue Arabe opposite. From here, taxis back to the Hassan II Mosque or the train station are easy to find.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Entry to most deco buildings / street viewing | Free |
| Sacré-Cœur cathedral (when exhibitions running) | Free – 30 MAD (indicative) |
| Coffee or mint tea at a café on the route | 10–20 MAD |
| Petit taxi across downtown Casablanca | 15–30 MAD (metered) |
| Private guided architecture tour (half day, indicative) | from ~400–700 MAD pp |
| Entrance to Hassan II Mosque (nearby add-on) | 120 MAD adults (indicative) |
All costs are indicative and based on 2024–2025 conditions. Exchange rates fluctuate; at roughly 10 MAD per USD the private tour cost is from approximately $40–70 per person. A group of two or more significantly reduces the per-person cost.
A good private guide who specialises in Casablanca’s architecture can arrange quiet interior visits that are simply not possible on a solo walk — and the historical context transforms the experience from “nice old buildings” into a coherent story about urban ambition, colonial power and Moroccan identity. If you are serious about the architecture, it is worth the extra cost.
The standouts are the Palais de Justice and Wilaya on Place Mohammed V, the covered arcades of Boulevard Mohammed V, and the Sacré-Cœur cathedral. Beyond those showpieces, the residential streets of the Gauthier neighbourhood — largely ignored by tourists — contain dense clusters of intact 1935–1950 buildings with porthole windows, ornamental friezes and wrought-iron balcony rails that you would normally only find in Miami Beach or Buenos Aires.
A focused self-guided walk covering the core downtown circuit — Place Mohammed V, Boulevard Mohammed V, the Marché Central area and the Sacré-Cœur — takes around 2.5 to 3 hours at a leisurely pace. Add Gauthier and you are looking at 4 hours. A private guided tour typically runs 3–4 hours and covers more buildings in less time because the guide eliminates wrong turns and fills in the historical context that makes sense of the architecture.
Absolutely. Most visitors spend half a day at the mosque and leave, which means they miss the entire downtown art deco district just 15 minutes away by taxi. The Ville Nouvelle (new town) built under the French Protectorate from roughly 1910 to 1956 is one of the world's best-preserved colonial urban landscapes, and it is almost entirely free to explore on foot. The Corniche and the old Medina are further reasons to stay at least a full day.
Yes — the core buildings are publicly visible from the street and the walking distances are modest. Download an offline map before you go (the Gauthier streets can be confusing) and photograph the route outlined above. That said, a private guide adds real value here: many of the most interesting façades are on upper floors of occupied buildings, and a guide can arrange access that a solo visitor cannot. They will also decode the architectural references — the mix of deco geometry and Islamic ornament is deliberate and has a specific historical story.
The downtown grid between Place Mohammed V, the Marché Central and Parc de la Ligue Arabe is the densest concentration, but the Gauthier neighbourhood just south-west of the park is arguably better preserved for residential architecture. Maarif, further south, has later-period (1940s–50s) buildings that blend deco with early modernist influences. For a single half-day, stick to the downtown core and add a Gauthier detour if your feet hold up.
Early morning between 7 and 9 am gives you low-angle light ideal for picking out the carved ornament on building facades, and the downtown streets are quiet before the traffic builds. Late afternoon from 4 pm also works well in winter months when the sun angles are lower. Avoid midday in summer (June–September) when the heat bouncing off the concrete can be unpleasant for a long walk.
The easiest option is a petit taxi — tell the driver "Place Mohammed V" or "Boulevard Mohammed V Ville Nouvelle". The ride should cost 15–30 MAD on the meter (around $1.50–3 USD, indicative) and takes 10–15 minutes depending on traffic. Alternatively, the walk from the mosque along the Corniche and up into the downtown grid takes around 30–40 minutes and passes through the old Medina on the way, which is interesting in its own right.
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