The Saadian Fortifications of Ahmad Al-Mansur in Morocco

Abstract

When Ahmad al-Mansur became sultan in 1578, he continued the ongoing policy of eliminating Portuguese enclaves along the coasts of Morocco. He also had to ensure the control of the areas which were more hostile to him within his own kingdom. To achieve this, he carried out the construction of a series of fortifications, among which the most important were those with clear European influences, equipped with pentagonal bastions which included casemates and oreillons. Of these forts, those located in Larache and Fes are considered the work of Portuguese and European captives, although it is important to note that al-Mansur must have become well acquainted with Spanish examples throughout the Mediterranean during the time he spent at the service of the Ottoman Empire. However, some of these square or triangular-plan forts present important shortcomings in their design, which made them very vulnerable to assaults with heavy artillery. This leads us to think that either European models were copied without thoroughly understanding their designs, or that that they were built merely as intimidating features without taking into account the possibility of an actual assault. These fortresses have been studied with the use of photogrammetric elevations.