The Amergou Qasaba

Amergou is undeniably the most important Almoravid military construction still standing. It is part of a series of fortifications erected by the Almoravids (1056–1147) to counteract the lightening ascension of their Almohad adversaries. It was established on a strategic site that dominates the entire Ouergha plain and the surrounding regions. According to chronicles, it played a brief, but important role around the mid twelfth century: from 1141–1142, it was in the front line of resistance against the Almohad offensive. It is also referred to in 1145–1146, when the Almoravids found refuge there after fleeing the city of Fez, when it fell to ‘Abd al-Mu’min Ibn ‘Ali[1]. Shortly after, the Almohads took control of the fortress, and from then on it appeared only occasionally in historical texts.

The Amergou Qasaba’s plan, layout, and construction techniques are relatively atypical. The fortress was constructed almost entirely from stone or rubble stone, and it is far longer than it is wide, stretching the entire length of the rocky outcrop on which it is perched. This is a relatively common defensive position for fortifications and has similarities in many Andalusian, Maghrib, and Mediterranean constructions, like the Sahyun castle in Syria, the work of twelfth-century crusaders[2].

Taking advantage of the relief, the walls follow the line of the crest, thereby increasing the number of defensive angles. Twelve towers defend the fortress’s corners and their dimensions vary in accordance with their position. The fortress was probably accessed through straight doors. The likely remains of the main entrance appear on the south-west which is completely bare while the twelfth-century doors are often flanked by two oblong projections. This door leads inside the Qasaba into an initial rectangular room to the north, and a second square room to the south-east. In the middle is a third construction that was both a defensive redoubt and living quarters for the garrison’s commander. Two additional towers flank this redoubt. Within the traces of many holes in the floor indicate the presence of silos. As for the fortress’s water supply, a cistern probably stood in the south-eastern part of the central courtyard.

While the Amergou Qasaba definitely has Almoravid origins, its general appearance is clearly different from Sanhajian and Moroccan-Andalusian fortifications: firstly, because of almost exclusive use of the hemispherical tower, and secondly, because of the existence of a central redoubt reinforced by a double defensive wall, and the construction of a barbican (or outer wall) flanked by two towers on the eastern side, which happens to be the fortress’s vulnerable point.

Archaeologists and art historians see the influence of contemporary European fortifications in the fortress, which was due no doubt to the presence of a Christian militia—some of whom may have been the real builders—in the Almoravid army.

[1] An Almohad soldier, who reigned between1130 and 1163.

[2] It is also called Qal’at Salah al-Dīn after its capture by Saladin in 1188. The castle, which is more of a fortified town, has Byzantine and Armenian architectural influences.