Sousse - Ribat

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warrior monks provided a model which was followed in the later Christian knightly orders.

With the construction of the Kasbah at the southwest corner of the Medina the Ribat lost its military significance, and from the 11th century it gradually fell into a state of disrepair. Large- scale restoration work was carried out when it was converted into a medersa (Koranic school) in 1722. It was again thoroughly restored in the 1950s, and now ranks, with the Ribat of Monastir, as one of the best preserved in Tunisia.

The Ribat is believed to have been built about 787 on an almost exactly square ground-plan measuring 38m/125ft each way. Its 13.5m/44ft high outer walls are reinforced by four corner towers and three other towers along the sides.

View

At the southeast corner of the Ribat stands the Nador, a 27m/89ft high circular watch-tower, slightly tapering towards the top, which was added in 821. From the top there are fine views of the Medina and the Harbor. The only entrance to the Ribat, a rectangular gatehouse, is on the south side. The arched gateway is borne on two antique columns with Byzantine imposts. Originally there was a second gate with a portcullis, the grooves for which can be seen just before the entrance passage. A vestibule roofed with early groined vaulting and flanked by two guard-rooms leads into the inner courtyard, round which, on ground level, are the monks' cells, stables and store-rooms, preceded by a portico. A staircase leads up to the eleven-aisled prayer hall on the upper floor, the oldest in North Africa.