Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca

Probably you can find in Casablanca the largest mosque outside Saoudi Arabia. The Hassan II Mosque is a stunning piece of architecture and craftsmanship, situated right on the Atlantic ocean. Its location is exceptional: in forward edge of sea

It's also your only chance to see a mosque in Morocco from the inside.

It was paid by the Moroccan workers. Theoretically they did not have to pay but actually they had to pay it (the shade of Hassan II was always present).

There are guided tours of the mosque for non-muslims at 9 AM, 10 AM, 11 AM and 2 PM (2:30 PM in summer). The afternoon tour is not available on Fridays, as the main weekly religious service takes place at that time. Tours cost 100 dirham or 50 dirham if you show your student card. (if you have it, don't forget it)

The outside prayer area can hold 80,000 people, that is if the inside is full with 25,000 people. The whole outside prayer idea is really unfounded as the mosque has more tourists than it does regular attendees. Anyhow it is still a beautiful area for some people watching.

This mosque was built for the 60th birthday of former Moroccan king Hassan II. The mosque is huge and is the second largest religious monument in the world after Mecca. It has space for 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 outside. The minaret is 210m tall and is the tallest in the world.

The mosque has many modern features which include: earthquake resistance, heated floors, electric doors, a sliding roof, and lasers which shine at night from the top of the minaret toward Mecca.

Feelings about the mosque are mixed. On one hand, they are proud of the stunning mosque and on the other consider the 800 million dollar price tag too much.They feel the money could have been put to better use and they resent the fact that the building of the mosque necessitated the destruction of a fairly large, slummy section of Casablanca.

I spied this water seller amidst the crowd in the little garden. I would not recommend drinking the water they sell as tourists are recommended to keep to bottled water only. Also beware that almost everyone in Morocco expects you to pay to take their picture and they will try to negotiate ridiculous amounts of money for doing so. It is best to just tip them a few dirham and go about your way no matter how much they protest.

In the little garden below the clock tower locals tend to congregate and socialize all through the afternoon. This is a great place to interact with the people or for the more reserved just to watch them. You are likely to be the only tourist there and they are most likely going to take a keen interest in you.

Here's a rare glimpse of me relaxing at one of the fountains. Before entering the mosque it is required that you remove your shoes. Remember to dress conservatively and try to avoid shorts despite the unrelenting heat. As you can see I chose to wear a bandanna as a headcovering although it is not required.

In Morocco, police have always been very present. In the past few years it is often less visible but anyway, it discreetly checks that nothing wrong occurs. In front of the mosque, only a few policemen walk across the esplanade, mainly to give information to visitors. However, more substantial police is half hidden in the surrounding.

The figure of a person gives an idea of the size of this whole mosque.

What cannot be seen here is that the inside is light by 50 chandeliers made in Murano crystal, each 6 meters in diameter, 15 meters high and weighting 1,200 kg. The roof, all in aluminum tiles, stands at 60 meters from the soil, weighs 1,100 tons and can open completely in 5 minutes (some documents say 3 minutes!).