Monastir - Ribat

Just off the harbor is Monastir's famous Ribat, built by Harthama ben Ayan in 796, which ranks with the Ribat of Sousse as one of the oldest Arab fortresses in North Africa; but while the Ribat in Monastir was further strengthened the one in Sousse soon lost its military importance to the later Kasbah. As a result the similarities between the two buildings are not at first sight evident.

In Monastir the Kasbah was built in the ninth and 11th centuries round the Ribat, which thus retained its dominant position in the Medina. Further buildings were added in the 16th/17th and 18th/19th centuries. Extensive renovation was carried out in the 1960s.

Basically the Ribat is similar in plan to the one in Sousse. Originally it was only 32.80m/108ft square and lacked the semicircular towers half way along the sides of the Ribat of Sousse. On the southeast side is the three-storey Nador tower, from the top of which there are fine views of the yachting harbor, the large cemetery containing the Bourguiba Mausoleum, the Great Mosque and the roofs of the Medina.