Mohamad V Square. Big open Public area. Not much happening this day.. – Casablanca Morocco – ECTV

Mohamad V Square. Big open Public area. Not much happening this day.. – Casablanca Morocco – ECTV

Mohammed V Square (Arabic: ساحة محمد الخامس) is a public square of historical and symbolic significance located in central Casablanca, Morocco. It was established in 1916 at the beginning of the French protectorate in Morocco under Resident-general Hubert Lyautey, on a design by architects Henri Prost and Joseph Marrast [fr].

The square is known officially as Mohammed V Square, in honor of the former king of Morocco Mohammed V. The square is known popularly as “Pigeons’ Square” (ساحة الحمام, French: place aux pigeons) due to the heavy presence of those birds.[3] It used to be known by different names such as Main Square (French: grande place), Square of France (French: place de France), Victory Square (French: place de la Victoire), Administrative Square (French: place administrative), and Marshal Lyautey Square (French: place du Maréchal Lyautey).

The area south of the Medina quarter that is now Mohammed V Square had been occupied by barracks of the French colonial forces before the plan of Henri Prost and Joseph Marrast [fr] to establish a large square there was implemented in 1916. It became the heart of the expanding “European city” (ville européenne) or modern expansion of Casablanca. Resident-general Hubert Lyautey, who was from Nancy, France, had that city’s 18th-century Place Stanislas serve as inspiration for Prost’s urban design.[5]

Buildings were erected around the square in the 1920s and 1930s, generally in the Moorish Revival architecture style championed by Henri Prost and his contemporaries.[1] This style combined French design principles with traditional Mauro-Andalusian architectural traditions, which lent the colonial administrative buildings legitimacy. Clockwise from the square’s eastern side:

Court House (المحكمة, tribunal de première instance), architect Joseph Marrast [fr], 1923 [6]: 85 
Place d’Armes de Casablanca (former Military Circle, repurposed in 1956), architect Marius Boyer, 1925 [6]: 84 
Bank Al-Maghrib (بنك المغرب, formerly the State Bank of Morocco’s Casablanca branch), architect Edmond Brion, 1937 [6]: 48 
Central Post Office (مكتب البريد, Grande Poste), architect Adrien Laforgue, 1920 [6]: 49 
Wilaya Building (مقر الولاية, formerly City Hall), architect Marius Boyer, 1937 [6]: 58 
French consulate-general (former Military Commander’s Mansion, repurposed in 1956), architect Albert Laprade, 1922 [6]: 57 [7]

Casablanca (Arabic: الدار البيضاء al-Dār al-Baīḍā, Berber: ⴰⵏⴼⴰ Anfa) is a city in western Morocco, capital of the Casablanca-Settat region. It is located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, 80 km south of Rabat, the administrative capital. It is the largest city in Morocco, as well as its main port. In the 2014 census it registered a population of 4,270,750 inhabitants. It is considered the economic and commercial center of Morocco, while the political capital is the city of Rabat.

Casablanca is home to the headquarters and main Moroccan industrial facilities, as well as international companies based in Morocco. Industrial statistics show that Casablanca maintains its historical position as the country’s main industrial zone. The port of Casablanca is one of the largest man-made ports in the world and the largest port in North Africa[1][2] It is also the primary naval base for the Royal Moroccan Navy.

The city has an important modern architectural heritage, due to the architectural diversity it experienced during the 20th century.

Origin of the name
Casablanca owes its name to the fact that, in the past, the Portuguese sailors who coasted this place identified it by a small white house located on the hill of Anfa, “a casa branca”. The fact that the current toponym, Casablanca in most languages, is in Spanish, seems to be due to the period in which both crowns were united. Usually and colloquially the locals call the city House.

Anfa is the original indigenous name and means “hill” in the Berber language. This name is now used to refer to the old quarters of the historic city.

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