To the N.W. of the French town-walls, between the Porte d’Oran and the Porte du Nord (p. [192]), rises the *Bâb el-Kermâdîn (Pl. A, 1; potters’ gate), which already existed in the time of Yarmorâsen (p. [188]), so named from the potsherds contained in its concrete masonry. The gateway, with its four towers and quadrangle, resembles the propugnaculum of late-Roman town fortifications.
The *Ruins of Mansura, the old entrenched town of the Merinides (p. [188]), are reached from the Porte de Fez (p. [192]) by the road to Lalla-Marnia (p. [197]), to the S.W., in 20–25 min. (carr. there and back 2½–3 fr.), The road passes (¼ hr.) the so-called Bâb el-Khemîs, a brick structure of unknown use, now much restored. A little above it are the ruins of a second building of uncertain origin (possibly the ancient Mosalla).
In 6 min. more we reach the old *Town Wall of Mansura, near the former E. gate of the town, within the precincts of which, to the left, above the road, is ensconced the modern agricultural village of Mansura amid luxuriant vegetation. The walls, 40 ft. high, constructed of concrete, enclose a great irregular quadrilateral space of about 4400 yds. in length, and are still largely preserved on the N.W. and S.W. sides. Of the towers, about 80 in number, connected by a crenellated passage, most are rectangular in form, but the four far-projecting corner-towers, like the eight gate-towers, are quadrangular.
Near the old E. gate, above the road, are a Bridge and remains of a rudely paved Street of the Merinide period. Of the old Palace of Victory, the Kasba of Abû’l-Hasen Ali (p. [188]), once sumptuously fitted up, there are now, on the highest ground in the town precincts, at the S.E. angle of the present village, a few scanty relics only, the chief of which is the inner court, resembling the myrtle court of the Alhambra (p. [83]).
Close to the old W. gate, on a plateau above the road, rises the **Mansura Tower (130 ft.), the minaret of the chief mosque, founded by Abû Yakûb (p. [188]). The back-wall, the staircase, the upper platform, and the muezzin’s turret have fallen in, but the ruin, with its golden-toned masonry glowing in the sunshine, its peaceful surroundings, and the superb view from its base, has an indescribable charm. The ruin was restored in 1877.
The portal of the minaret formed the central entrance to the court of the mosque. Of the three concentric gateway arches the inmost horseshoe arch, resting on two onyx columns, has been entirely renewed. The first story here, as in no other Moorish minaret, is adorned with a balcony, borne by corner brackets and stalactite pendentives, now without columns. The second story, relieved by narrow window openings, has the usual reticulated ornamentation, while the upper story is adorned with multifoil arched niches. Remains of the fayence mosaics are still visible at places.
The custodian, who has generally to be asked for in the village, shows the ruins of the court and of the mosque itself, which once had thirteen arcades.
The hill-village of Sidi Bou-Médine (2841 ft.), picturesquely situated amid olive-groves on the slopes of Jebel Mefroûch, 20 min. to the E. of Tlemcen, contains, like Mansura, some of the finest existing memorials of the Merinide period. It was once named Eubbâd el-Fûki (‘upper Eubbâd’), and at a very early period belonged to a monastery, the Ribât el-Eubbâd, but it derives its present name from Sidi Abû-Median, a scholar from Seville (about 1126–97), who was buried here by order of the Almohade Mohammed en-Nâsir (1198–1213). Around the kubba of that great scholar and saint, which for centuries attracted countless pilgrims, are grouped the buildings of the Merinide sovereigns.