Just under 3 kilometres from the Mechouar, Mansourah - the triumphant - never lived up to its name. It started as the site where Merinid sultan Abou Yacoub settled his armed forces in 1299, when he besieged Tlemcen. The blockade lasted eight years, during which the site became a residence, complete with palace and mosque. Just as the town was about to fall, the sultan was killed by one of his slaves and the Merinids withdrew.

Remains of the 12-metre-high walls that protected the site stretch across the olive groves far into the distance. The major vista here, though, is the remains of the enormous mosque, reconstructed by Sultan Abou el-Hassan of Fes when he came to besiege Tlemcen in 1335.

The prayer hall measures 60 metres by 55 metres, but most extraordinary is the 40 metres minaret, a twin of the Tour Hassan in Rabat and the Giralda in Seville, its internal side having fallen leaving it a helpless and evocative shell. The place is open at all times. The lions you may hear roaring as you visit are across the road in the Mansourah Zoo.