Bab El Kasbah

Bab El Kasbah (Arabic: باب القصبة) is one of the gates of the Medina of Sfax, located in the west of its walls southern facade and gives access to its kasbah.

Bab El Kasbah
Bab El Kasbah in the 20th century

Etymology

Originally, it was called Bab Jedid (the new door), as it was the first gate to be built in the end of the 19th century, more than 1000 years after bab Jebli and Bab Diwan, the medina's oldest gates.[1] The gate got its current designation from the Kasbah located at its east.

History

The main purpose behind this new entrance was to decrease the flood of passengers through the two other gates and facilitate the exchange with the colonial district of Bab Bhar.[2] After its renovation in 1960, Bab El Kasbah got provided by a smaller second entrance just next to it.[3]

Description

Bab El Kasbah gives access to a square delimited by Sidi Ilyes mosque in the gront of the gate, the cheikh Meftah Mausoleum and the Madrasa Abbassiya in the east and the Kasbah in the west. From the outer side, the door overlooks The resistance square, Dakar's gardens and the Lycée technique through Ali Belhouane Avenue.[4]

  • Columns of Bab El Kasbah
  • The main entrance of Bab El Kasbah
  • Inner entrance
  • The kasbah square

References
  1. "History of Sfax".
  2. Bensalah, Moncef. "Les portes de la Médina". www.lesitesfaxien.net (in French). Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  3. Bensalah, Moncef. "Les portes de la Médina". www.lesitesfaxien.net (in French). Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  4. Abdelkafi, Boubaker. History of Sfax. p. 57.


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