Sun., 2/20/11 - Marrakech to Casablanca
This morning the four of us left Marrakech in our old van and followed another OAT group of twelve travelers in their comfy motor coach to our next hotel in Casablanca.
Casablanca is a city of about five million people with the major export port for the country and many international business offices. In the 12th c. it was a small fishing village. The French built it into a major city and port.
We drove around the city on our way to the hotel. We stopped to take pictures of Rick's Cafe from the movie, Casablanca.
Rick's Cafe
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View of Casablanca from our hotel room |
After checking into our last hotel we drove to the Hassan II Mosque. It even stopped raining and became sunny and beautiful for our visit and picture taking. The mosque is supposedly the "peoples' mosque" and can hold 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 in the square outside. It is the third largest mosque in the world after Mecca and Medina (depending on your source of information). The 689-foot minaret is the tallest and has an elevator inside it. The whole complex is an architectural jewel and took only six years for 2500 workers and 10,000 craftsmen working 24/7 to complete in 1993. The French architect combined Arab and Islamic styles with wood carved and painted ceilings (carved in place and taking four days to complete each square meter of ceiling), sculpted plaster, mosaic tiles, and marble floors and pillars. All of the materials came from Morocco except the Italian marble pillars in the niche and one of the 57 chandeliers. The huge ceiling (65 meters high) slides open to let in sunlight on nice days. The huge doors are made of titanium so they won't rust from the seawater and then covered with gold leaf. There is a special entrance for the king. He walks down the length of the prayer room on red carpet and sits near the Imam. One third of the mosque is built out into the ocean because a verse in the Koran says: "The throne of God was on the water." Two hundred people a day clean, maintain and provide security.
Down stairs in the ablution halls there are 41 fountains of Venetian marble. The pillars there look like marble but are made of limestone, clay, black soap, and egg yolk. They absorb the humidity! There are also men's and women's Turkish hammams (bath rooms) in the basement. They have yet to be used because if used, visitors could not see and marvel at them. The building is absolutely beautiful and spectacular and incredibly expensive, quoted at $800 million dollars but probably three of four times that much. Our mosque guide spoke wonderful English, had humor in her presentation, and was wonderfully knowledgeable.
Hassan II Mosque |
Hassan II Mosque - Minaret
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Square in front of the mosque will hold 80,000 people!
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Hassan II Mosque |
Ablution fountain - beautiful tile work
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Titanium doors |
Titanium doors
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Interior dome |
Interior details
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Interior details |
Interior details
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Interior ceiling details |
Interior will hold 25,000 people
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Chandelier |
Basement ablution area
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One of 41 ablution fountains |
Turkish hammam
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Waves crashing against the third of the mosque which is above the sea |
Lighthouse
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We walked a short way along the ocean looking at the crashing waves. The lighthouse is still in use. It was significant in WWII. Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_II_Mosque http://www.sacred-destinations.com/morocco/casablanca-hassan-ii-mosque
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We drove further south and began to see the beach hotels and touristy restaurants. We drove through some of the Anfa Residential Quarter, which is like a Moroccan Beverly Hills. This is where the original fishing village was located and is now fancy single homes.
We stopped and looked at the 1952 Roman Catholic Church, Eglise Notre Dame of Lourdes de Casablanca. Outside was a fabricated cave dedicated to Bernadette Souberous of Lourdes. The stained glass on the sidewalls of the new church were very colorful and interesting. They depicted the Virgin Mary in a dozen scenes. There was no written explanation and Jaafar did not know the stories so we will try to Google more information when we get home – (which I have tried with little success considering how stunning the windows are).
Church of Notre Dame de Lourdes
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Grotto of Lourdes replication |
Wonderful stained glass windows |
Stained glass windows
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Stained glass windows
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Stained glass windows |
Jaafar evidently wanted to be part of the demonstration taking place in the Mohammed V Square, the city’s main square, and so he took us there. The square is surrounded by administrative buildings, parliament, post office, national bank, and foreign banking headquarters. Today it was filled with mostly young male protestors. They were orderly and organized and marched around a two-block area. The police and army in Casablanca lined the perimeter of the square and stood almost shoulder-to-shoulder with riot helmets and batons but they had empty holsters - no fire arms.
Tribunal of Justice building
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Demonstration |
Demonstration
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Demonstration |
Touche pas a mon pays - Keep hands off my country
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Back at the hotel we grabbed an hour nap, had a light dinner, slept another hour, showered and left for the airport at 11:30 PM. Jaafar accompanied us in the OAT van. It was hard to say goodbye to Teddy and Barbara after spending so much time together on a great trip, but we are sure we will stay in touch with them.
Our Lufthansa flight left on time (2:15 AM!) and was only one third full. We had all the room we wanted on the 3 ½ hour flight to Frankfurt. Then we spent seven hours in the Frankfurt airport - ate breakfast and spent the rest of the time reading and walking. The flight back to Denver (10 1/2 hours!) was smooth. Looking out of the window over the southern tip of Greenland you could see the beautiful ice and snow below. Should have gotten up and gotten the camera and taken a picture or two. Too high to see any polar bears!
We had two hot meals and slept enough to feel good driving home at 7:00 PM MST.
These two trips (to Egypt and then to Morocco) turned out to be more than we bargained for, but the tours were fascinating, we met some wonderful people, and never got sick! Now it is wonderful to put our feet down for awhile in our own home and enjoy Estes Park – until May when we head back to Africa, the southern part.
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