Casablanca , Dar El Beida in Arabic , is the largest town in Morocco and one of the major cities in Africa.

Casablanca is the biggest harbour in Morocco on  the atlantic coast ,  about 100 km from Rabat , the capital.

Casablanca was founded in the Middle Ages by the Berbers .

It was then called Anfa and consisted of a few whitewashed  houses which explains the origin of the name(Casablanca means white house in spanish).

Yet some archeological research brought evidence that people used to live there millions of years before (“the man of Sidi Abderrahman”)

In the 15^th century the town  was destroyed by the Portugese  as a punishment for Salé pirate’s  activities.

Casablanca was reconstructed in the 18^th century  but remained a mere  hamlet and did not expand  till the mid of the 19^th century.

Casablanca sustained attack by the French colonial army at the end of the 19^th century.

The town fell under the french rule in 1912 .

It started to expand very quickly .

The french governor, Lyautey had in mind to modernize the  city,keethe Moorish style touch

In terms of architecture, Casablanca is an amazing site, which displays numerous styles such :(,Arab style, Art Deco, Neomoorish, modern)

Casablanca housed the famous Anfa Conference attended by Roosevelt, Churchill,De Gaulle and Sultan Mohammed V (Mohammed VI’s grandfather).
 

 The decisions taken by these leaders were crucial for the end of the WW II.

Today a highly ambitious  project is set out to make of Casablanca a first class touristic and cultural place.

Anfa conference