Ribat of Monastir in the context of Monastir, Tunisia

A ribāṭ (Arabic: رِبَـاط; hospice, hostel, base or retreat) is an Arabic term, initially designating a small fortification built along a frontier during the first years of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb to house military volunteers, called murabitun, and shortly after they also appeared along the Byzantine frontier, where they attracted converts from Greater Khorasan, an area that would become known as al-ʻAwāṣim in the ninth century CE.

The ribat fortifications later served to protect commercial routes, as caravanserais, and as centers for isolated Muslim communities as well as serving as places of piety.

The Tunisian Sahel (Arabic: الساحل) or more precisely the Central East Tunisia is an area of central eastern Tunisia and one of the six Tunisian regions. It stretches along the eastern shore, from Bouficha in the north to Melloulèche in the south, it includes 3 governorates: Sousse, Monastir and Mahdia. Its name derives from the Arabic word sāḥil (ساحل), meaning "shore" or "coast".The region's economy is based especially on tourism and it contains the second-biggest airport in Tunisia: Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport.