Fortress sights in Siwa Oasis
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Fortress of Shali
The centre of the town is dominated by the spectacular organic shapes of the remains of the 13th-century mud-brick Fortress of Shali . Built from a material known locally as kershef (large chunks of salt from the lake just outside town, mixed with rock and plastered in local clay), the labyrinth of huddled buildings was originally four or five storeys high and housed hundreds of people.
For centuries, few outsiders were admitted inside - and even fewer came back out to tell the tale. But three days of rain in 1926 caused more damage than any invader had managed and, over the last decades, inhabitants moved to newer and more comfortable houses with running water and electr…
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