Hassan II Mosque

The Hassan II Mosque is the building most people come to Casablanca to see, and it lives up to its reputation. Designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau and inaugurated on 30 August 1993, it stands on the Atlantic shoreline north-west of the old medina, with part of the complex built out over the water. Its minaret rises to 210 metres, and the complex can hold up to 105,000 worshippers: around 25,000 in the prayer hall and the rest on the surrounding esplanade.

Unlike most mosques in Morocco, it is open to non-Muslim visitors, but only on guided tours run by the Hassan II Foundation. Tours are run in three stages and take you into the prayer hall, where the scale of the space, the decorative detail and the sense of the ocean just beyond the walls make a lasting impression. Even if you have visited other great mosques, the size of the hall is hard to forget.

Tours leave at set times. From mid-September to mid-March there are departures from Saturday to Thursday at 09:00, 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00 and again at 15:00, with fewer slots on Fridays because of midday prayers. From mid-March to mid-September an extra 16:00 tour is added. The schedule changes during Ramadan, so check the foundation's website before you plan your day. Children under six go free, and reduced tickets exist for children, students and Moroccan residents.

Dress modestly: shoulders, torso and knees must be covered, and shorts and sleeveless tops are not allowed. You remove your shoes before entering and carry them in a bag provided at the entrance. Smoking, drinks and video cameras are not permitted inside, and groups must stay together behind the guide. Allow about an hour for the tour itself and more time to walk around the esplanade and the seafront.

The mosque suits almost every visitor, from architecture enthusiasts to families, and it photographs best in the morning light from the esplanade or at sunset from the corniche path to the west. Outside tour times the vast square remains open, and local families picnic and stroll there in the evening. A museum on Moroccan history sits among the buildings around the mosque.

The mosque is a short taxi ride from Casa Port station and the city centre, or a walk of around twenty minutes along the seafront from the old medina. Combine it with a stroll through the medina and lunch at La Sqala, or continue west along the corniche towards El Hank lighthouse and Ain Diab for the evening.