City walk · Casablanca · Morocco
Esther Bensimon
a sharp, warm seamstress in her sixties, quick with prices, slow with trust, fond of the city that kept redrawing her street
Read what Esther Bensimon says
My name is Esther Bensimon. I was a seamstress, and my needle paid for three children in a quarter that clever men kept trying to erase from their maps. Every few years a new plan arrived: a wider square, a straighter avenue, and my street drawn over in pencil. I will walk you from my prayers to their square, and you will see who won. Come — I talk while I walk.
Casablanca · 6 stops · 1.6 km
about 24 min walking, 28 min listening at the stops — going inside is extra · Tap a stop on the map for a preview.
Where it takes you
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Best time to walk: Early morning or after 5pm. The cathedral forecourt and United Nations Square have almost no shade at midday, and the synagogue is a quiet place — visit respectfully, and do not expect to enter on a Saturday.
52 min · 1.6 km · 6 stops · medium
You’re walking this one before anyone at Walk & Tell has. If something looks wrong, tap Report at any stop — we’ll fix it for everyone after you.
Partly shadedBest time to walk: Early morning or after 5pm. The cathedral forecourt and United Nations Square have almost no shade at midday, and the synagogue is a quiet place — visit respectfully, and do not expect to enter on a Saturday.
The walk
Casablanca between the two world wars, told by a Jewish seamstress from the mellah who sewed for the French families of the new town. The walk runs from her synagogue in Sidi Belyout past the district office and the great concrete cathedral, through the art school and a collector's house, and ends where the old city and the new one met: United Nations Square. It is a story walk — no puzzles, just chapters, and things to notice with your eyes. The quarter is small, dense and full of doorways most visitors hurry past.
Start here
Rue Jaber Ben Hayane زنقة جابر بن حيان, Arrondissement de Sidi Belyout ⵜⴰⴳⵥⵥⵓⵎⵜ ⵏ ⵙⵉⴷⵉ ⴱⵍⵢⵓⵟ مقاطعة سيدي بليوط
Start on the pavement outside Temple Beth El on Boulevard d'Anfa, about a five-minute walk south from the centre. Stand across the street so you can see the whole front.
Directions
