Taucheira, Southwest Gate

Taucheira: Greek port in the Cyrenaica, also known as Arsinoe.

Southwest gate

Like its counterpart in the northeast, the Byzantine Southwest Gate of Taucheira/Arsinoe was flanked by two pentagonal bastions - pointing forward like the prow of a ship - that must have served as batteries for catapults. However, the foundations are square, which proves that the design of the towers was at some point modified. The original gate must be older than this one, which was built by the emperor Justinian (r. 527-565).