Libya: Ras el Gol Fortress

Ras el Gol – the village played by Liam Neesson in the Batman trilogy? And the medieval fortress with a deep well from which Bruce Wayne had to climb out of, located somewhere in the Middle East? Well, the name clearly came from this fortress in Libya – Ras el Gol Fortress – located on the edges of the Sahara, in total nomansland. The Fortress is perched atop Jabal Al-Sahabah, offering a panoramic view of the desert and the oasis town below, close to the borders with Algeria and Tunisia. It was originally built by the Romans in the first or second century BC as a military outpost, possibly associated with the Third Augustan Legion, it was later used during the Islamic conquests of North Africa. The fortress, now in ruins, reportedly once withstood a siege for months thanks to a secret well deep in the mountain that offered water supply to its defenders. Eerie similarities to the Batman movies!