A strong wall once surrounded the town; a narrow neck of land exists on the east where the rock has been scarped.
The scenery about the two Loughs Macnean is carved out in similarly scarped hills, rising to 2188 ft.
In this style the surface of the design is not raised above the general plane of the field, but an effect of projection is obtained either by recessing the whole space immediately surrounding the design, or by enclosing the latter in a scarped frame.
Rabat was founded by Yak'ub el Mansur in 1184, but Salli was then already an ancient city, and on the scarped hills to the west of Rabat stand the ruins of Sala, a Roman colony, known as Shelia.
The old quarter on the right bank surrounds on three sides a scarped rock, on which stands the fortress now used as a prison.