Notre Dame de Lourdes Cathedral (Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral), Casablanca

Modernist, near brutalist slabs of soaring concrete surmounted by a tiny crucifix proclaim Our Lady of Lourdes to a congregation of Catholics. Certainly no other church or former church looks like it, a foreboding, massive household radiator. But go inside and be dazzled by the towering stained glass windows of Gabriel Loire.

Here is more than eight thousand square feet of masterpiece hidden in a plain box. The cathedral is located just north of the Habous Quarter (the New Medina), near the Royal Palace and the mosques of Mohammed V and Moulay Youssef. The windows are cut on a red and blue background like a fine Moroccan carpet. They tell the story of the Virgin Mary.

The interior space is vast, open and airy. Beams of dazzling colored light splash against the opposite side walls. In the yard of the church is a replica of the Grotto of Lourdes where the schoolgirl Bernadette had her visions and revelations of the Virgin Mary.