What can you see of Morocco's colonial / Art Deco heritage?

Morocco's 20th-century colonial chapter — the French Protectorate of 1912–1956, and Spanish rule in the north — left a distinctive and often beautiful architectural legacy that's easy to overlook between the Roman ruins and the medieval medinas, but is a real treat for lovers of Art Deco and early modernism. Rather than bulldoze the old cities, the French resident-general Lyautey built brand-new "villes nouvelles" beside them, and the architecture of those decades — Art Deco fused with Moorish motifs into a style called "Mauresque" — gives several Moroccan cities a unique 1920s–30s elegance.

Casablanca is the great showcase, and for many visitors the most rewarding reason to linger in a city they'd otherwise skip. Its downtown is one of the world's finest concentrations of Art Deco and Mauresque buildings, much of it from the 1920s and 30s. Walk around the monumental Place Mohammed V with its administrative palaces, fountain and clock tower; admire the wrought-iron balconies, geometric façades and rounded corners along Boulevard Mohammed V; and seek out gems like the gorgeously restored Cinema Rialto, the Marché Central, and the cathedral. The Villa des Arts and walking tours by local heritage associations bring the era to life, and a slow morning with your head up, looking at the upper storeys, is the way to enjoy it.

Beyond Casablanca, the pattern repeats. Rabat's ville nouvelle has handsome Art Deco and Mauresque streets and the grand administrative quarter, and the capital pairs that with its medieval and Roman sites for a full sweep of history. Fes and Meknes both have their French-built new towns with period architecture sitting beside the ancient medinas. Even smaller spots surprise you with a deco cinema or post office.

In the north, the flavour is Spanish rather than French. Tetouan, the former capital of the Spanish protectorate, has a charming Spanish ensanche of early-20th-century architecture beside its UNESCO medina, and Tangier — long an International Zone — mixes Spanish, French and cosmopolitan deco influences in its boulevards, hotels and cafés. If colonial-era and Art Deco architecture is your thing, give Casablanca a proper day or two (it's genuinely underrated for this), add Rabat, and dip into Tetouan and Tangier in the north — a side of Morocco most tours rush past.