Skifa el Kahla gate description and photos - Tunisia: Mahdia (Topic)

Skifa el Kahla gate description and photos - Tunisia: Mahdia. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Skifa el Kahla.

Photo and description

Mahdia is the ancient city of Tunisia, famous for its medina and although its walls are not very old, some interesting structures have been preserved here. Skifa-el-Kala Gate is a fortress gate leading to the central Cairo square. They were built by the ruling Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century, as was customary in the Middle Ages, facing the mainland. They were built both for defense as a defensive structure and as a gate leading to the palace of the rulers. When the Spaniards, leaving in 1554, destroyed the protective walls, the Black Gate, or the gate of Skif al-Kala, they did not touch, but they had to be restored. After the gate begins a snake winding corridor 21 meters long.

The gate was built in such a way that the invaders coming from the sea had little chance of getting into the city - they had to walk to the gate and that was the only way to get into the city. At this time, the soldiers who were on the fortress walls could hit a part of the army from above with arrows, boiling water, hot oil. The enemies who reached the gate were blocked by six descending wrought iron gratings.

If you turn onto a stone staircase from the opening in the gate, you can climb up to the roof of a corridor with terraces from which a magnificent panorama of the city and its surroundings opens. the ever-busy port. Also, once a week, one of the famous noisy city oriental bazaars with small shops and restaurants unfolds near the gate of Skif al-Kala. It sells a variety of goods, including souvenirs depicting the gate itself.

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Topic: Skifa el Kahla gate description and photos - Tunisia: Mahdia.