I caught the train from Mohammedia where the campsite was into Casablanca. It was cheaper to go by taxi and even cheaper to take the bus but I wanted to go by rail despite the cost. The train fare was cheap but I had to get a taxi to the station and at the end of the day I would need to get a taxi back to the campsite.
At the railway station...
Its was a dull journey and little of interest as we left Mohammedia, crossed some flat desert and then through the outskirts of Casablanca which is Morocco's largest city. I walked from the station through the medina and out to the King Hassan II mosque, built partly on the land and partly over the water. It took six years to build and cost USD600m.
One of the ornate doors into the mosque.
Some of the delicate mosaics.
A detail of one of the tops of a column.
A view across the central space.
Another detail of some of the carvings.
More mosaics.
Another view of the ceiling.
The magreb facing Mecca.
The washing rooms underneath the structure for the faithful to wash before praying.
Some of the beautiful craftsmanship on the ceilings.
A view up the centre of the mosque. It is the third largest mosque in the world and can hold 25,000 inside and 85,000 outside.
One of the mosaics on the floor with the reflection of a chandelier...not my intended shot but it does show how polished the floors are.
The medina was like many other walled cities so I didn't take any photos but no visit to Casablanca would be complete without a photo of Rick's cafe as in Humphrey Bogart's film Casablanca.
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