page_title: Fortifications of Fez
section_title: Saadian era: controlling Fes
hierarchical_section_title: Fortifications of Fez / Historical evolution of the city walls / Saadian era: controlling Fes
caption_attribution_description: English: burjnord
context_page_description: The Fortifications of Fez comprise a complex circuit of ramparts and gates surrounding Fes el-Bali and Fes el-Jdid, two urban agglomerations that compose the old "medina" of Fes, Morocco. They also include a number of kasbahs and forts which were built both to protect and to control the city. These fortifications have been built up over many centuries and the extensive remnants today date from many different periods.
context_section_description: Following the decline of the Marinids and their Wattasid successors, Fes in turn entered a period of relative darkness. The Saadian sultan Muhammad ash-Sheikh besieged and conquered Fes in 1549, after strong resistance. In 1554-55 a surviving member of the Wattasid dynasty reestablished control over Fes and the Saadians wee forced to once again besiege and reconquer Fes right away. Upon retaking the city, the Saadian authorities took revenge upon some of the local leaders and treated the general population poorly, further enshrining the inhabitants' hostility to the new dynasty. Presumably as a result of this persisting tension, the Saadians built a number of new forts and bastions around the city which appear to be aimed at keeping control over the local population. They were all located on higher ground overlooking Fes el-Bali, from which they would have been easily able to bombard the city with canons. These include the Kasbah Tamdert, just inside the city walls near Bab Ftouh, and the forts of Borj Nord (Borj al-Shamali) on the hills to the north, Borj Sud (Borj al-Janoub) on the hills to the south, and the Borj Sheikh Ahmed to the west, at a point in Fes el-Jdid's walls that was closest to Fes el-Bali. These were built in the late 16th century, mostly by Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur. Two other bastions, Borj Twil and Borj Sidi Bou Nafa', were also built along Fes el-Jdid's walls south of Borj Sheikh Ahmed. The Borj Nord, Borj Sud, and these bastions (sometimes referred to as the bastioun in Arabic) of Fes el-Jdid are the only fortifications in Fes to demonstrate clear European (most likely Portuguese) influence in their design, updated to serve as defenses in the age of gunpowder. Some of them may have been built with the help of Christian European prisoners of war from the Saadians' victory over Portuguese at the Battle of the Three Kings in 1578.
caption: The fortress of Borj Nord, on the northern hills overlooking Fes el-Bali.
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