Audio Guide: Casablanca Introduction Walking Tour (Self Guided), Casablanca

General Hubert Lyautey, the first French Resident-General, famously treated Casablanca as a city to be built rather than preserved, reflecting the colonial mindset that turned a modest port into a modern metropolis

Casablanca is Morocco’s largest city and its main Atlantic port, shaped less by dynasties and monuments than by trade, colonial planning, and rapid modern growth. The site was known in antiquity as Anfa, a Berber settlement that later became a small port linked to regional commerce. During the Middle Ages, Anfa gained a reputation as a base for pirates, which brought it into conflict with European powers. In 1468, the Portuguese destroyed the town in retaliation for attacks on their shipping, leaving the site largely abandoned for several centuries.

The modern name Casablanca comes from the Portuguese Casa Branca, meaning “White House”, a reference to a prominent white building visible from the sea when the Portuguese briefly returned in the early 16th century. After abandoning the area again, the site remained sparsely populated until the 18th century, when Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah encouraged resettlement and reconstruction.

Casablanca’s decisive transformation came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its natural anchorage and strategic Atlantic position attracted European merchants, especially the French. Following the French bombardment of the city in 1907 and the establishment of the French Protectorate in 1912, Casablanca was redesigned on a large scale. French urban planners laid out wide boulevards, industrial zones, and port infrastructure, turning the city into Morocco’s primary economic engine.

After Moroccan independence in 1956, Casablanca retained its central economic role. Today, Casablanca is a city of contrasts: colonial-era architecture stands alongside modern high-rises, and traditional neighborhoods exist next to business districts and port facilities. Its history reflects Morocco’s encounter with Atlantic trade, European colonialism, and post-independence modernization.

Walking through central Casablanca, visitors pass United Nations Square, a lively crossroads linking the old medina and modern boulevards. Nearby, Mohammed V Square opens onto monumental civic buildings from the French Protectorate era. The Casablanca Cathedral recalls the city’s colonial past. A short walk leads to the Habous quarter, where the New Town Market and the elegant Mahkamat al-Pasha building blend traditional Moroccan design with early twentieth-century planning.

Seen through Lyautey’s approach, Casablanca still feels like a city in progress. It doesn’t rely on a single postcard monument. Instead, it reveals itself through planned boulevards, working districts, and the constant push of a port city remaking itself.