Burj al-Andalus

Known in French as the Fort d'Espagne because of its proximity to the Andalusian quarter of Bizerte, the Burj al-Andalus was the lynchpin of the fortifications of Bizerte. It covers the city from the north-west and dominates both its sea and land approaches, and is connected to the main city by a long curtain wall. It takes the form of a thirteen sided polygon with an irregular courtyard in the centre and wide roof spaces on top of the ramparts. It has only one door and two sets of stairs leading to its ramparts. One is very wide, the other very narrow leading into the gate area. The fort as built in the 1570s by the Turkish architect Farhat and restored by Ali Pasha in the 1740s after it was damaged in a war with France. It was at this point that the north west and north eastern facades were extended to allow for the emplacement of battersis of cannons.