No visit to Casablanca is complete without a stop at the Hassan II Mosque. It’s also a popular part of sightseeing tours and shore excursions, often alongside other Casablanca attractions such as the Royal Palace, Central Market, and Ain Diab Corniche. Many full-day tours from Casablanca or Marrakech combine a city tour with a visit to the Moroccan capital of Rabat. The mosque grounds and prayer halls are open to non-Muslims by guided tour only.
Guided tours are held in multiple languages, including English, and last an hour.
Tickets can be purchased from the ticket office at the south side of the mosque.
A strict dress code is applicable to all visitors; shoulders and knees must be covered, shoes must be removed (plastic bags are provided), and women must cover their hair.
The mosque is wheelchair accessible.
The Hassan II Mosque is located along the seafront Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah Boulevard, about 10 minutes via taxi from the city center.
The mosque’s seafront location makes it a stunning photo opportunity, and the best light can be found at sunrise and sunset. A nighttime visit is equally impressive, when the mosque is dramatically floodlit. It’s best to avoid visiting during prayer times, when the mosque can be crowded with worshippers, but multiple tours are held daily, with fewer tours available on Friday.
Built to commemorate the 60th birthday of Moroccan King Hassan II, the mosque was designed by French architect Michel Pinseau and was completed in 1993. Hand-carved ceilings, elaborate tilework, marble floors, and Venetian stained-glass windows are complemented by high-tech conveniences like heated floors and a retractable roof. Inspired by a Quranic verse about God's throne being built upon water, the seafront mosque features a glass-floored terrace that reveals the sea washing over rocks below.