Stateless Narjiss Nejjar,Moroccan Director Top 3 Moroccan Film Directors Making an Impact on World of…
Tag: casablanca
With its grand boulevards and famed historic Art Deco Architecture, Casablanca is a popular city…
Casablanca or more affectionately known as Casa has a population of three and a half million and…
Morocco Traveler's Recommendations of the Best Places to Dine in Casablanca. RICK'S CAFE Rick's Cafe,…
In December 2014, Boeing and Royal Air Maroc, Morocco’s national carrier, announced the 787 Dreamliner, a new addition to the airlines’ fleet of travel offerings for flights to Morocco. Royal Air Maroc is the first airline to operate the 787 Dreamliner in the Mediterranean region making Morocco as a destination more attractive to travelers. The 787 Dreamliner will enable Royal Air Maroc to expand it’s network of long flights while reducing costs. Royal Air Maroc’s new 787 will also enable passengers to have a luxury Morocco travel and flight experience in comparison to those offered by its prior fleet of 737 planes.
Prior to the establishment of the French Protectorate in Morocco (1912-1956), Dar al Bayda, as Casablanca was then known, was a modest port of a population of around 12,000. A few years into the Protectorate, this had increased 10-fold and has hardly stopped growing since. Today, Casablanca is Morocco’s bustling economic hub, home to many international companies and Africa’s biggest port and its largest shopping mall, Morocco Mall. For visitors to this metropolis, the big draw is the stunning Hassan II Mosque. However, the French left a significant architectural legacy. As you walk the streets, look up and around you beyond the crowds, the traffic and the hubbub of city life to discover Art Deco Architecture in Casablanca.
Morocco is one of the ancient intersections of civilization. Boldly situated on the far northwestern corner of Africa, Morocco’s expansive shoreline stretches from the Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Mediterranean. The cultural diversity of contemporary Morocco reflects its historic vantage point as a gateway to Europe and the world. Morocco’s heritage offers visitors an encounter with an exotic society and its customs, an incomparable cuisine, and a shopper’s paradise of magnificent markets.
Two older well known films featuring Morocco are Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much which features James Stewart and Doris Day and was made in 1956. It has all the tense drama of a Hitchcock thriller and has a scene on the Jemma El Fna square where Hitchcock makes a cameo appearance looking at acrobats on the Place in a cafe as a man is stabbed nearby. The French built fortress like police station on the square features prominently in the film. It was made in the same year as Morocco gained independence and captures some of the excitement of the period.
Casablanca is changing. It has always been the business capital and is Morocco’s largest city providing 48 per cent of the urban jobs in Morocco. It had the reputation of being run down and polluted but things are changing. The newest addition is Casablanca’s new tramway system a radical change in urban transport policy which links the centre with some of the suburbs . It was inaugurated by King Mohammed VI with French Prime Minister Jean- Marc Ayrault. There is now an alternative to Casablanca’s red petit taxis and the traffic jams in the city centre.
Abderrahman Slaoui was a businessman who loved the arts. Newly opened this past May 2012 is Abderrahman Slaoui’s Foundation Museum located in Casablanca. The Musee De La Fondation Abderrahman Sloaoui is set up in the home of a charming art deco building dating from the 1940’s. Casablanca’s Musee De La Fondation Abderrahman Sloaoui is dedicated to Moroccan jewelry and decor.