The Habous Quarter, also called the Quartier des Habous or 'new medina', is a French-built district from the 1930s designed to blend traditional Moroccan urban forms with the order of colonial planning. The result is a distinctive hybrid: arcaded walkways and neat archways framing lanes that still feel like a medina, but cleaner, calmer and more legible than the old town.
Under the arcades you'll find some of the best browsing in the city — coppersmiths and metalwork, olives and preserved lemons, carpets, babouche slippers and a cluster of celebrated pastry and cookie shops that draw Casablancans on weekends. Nearby stand the Mahkama du Pacha, a lavish 1940s courthouse and reception hall, and the Moulay Youssef Mosque, giving the quarter a monumental edge among the shops.
The Habous sits a little south of the centre, so it pairs naturally with a driving loop of the city. A private driver drops you right at the arcades, spares you the parking scramble, and can wait while you pick up pastries and copperware before continuing to Place Mohammed V or the Corniche.
Highlights
- Arcaded 1930s lanes blending Moroccan and French design
- Coppersmiths, carpet and babouche stalls under the archways
- Renowned pastry and almond-cookie shops popular with locals
- The ornate Mahkama du Pacha courthouse (exterior and, when open, its halls)
- The Moulay Youssef Mosque overlooking the quarter
- A calmer, cleaner shopping experience than the Old Medina
Best Time to Visit
Weekday mornings are relaxed for browsing; come Friday or the weekend if you want the pastry shops and buzz at full tilt.