The craggy sides of the rock were visible but in few places.

Massive fortifications rising from its foot to its summit defended every point where the rock was not absolutely perpendicular.
These walls were of enormous thickness, and in casemates or recesses in their thickness were the stables for the elephants, horses, and cattle of the garrison.
Round the upper edge of the rock extended another massive wall, above which in picturesque outline rose the temple and other public edifices.
At the foot of this natural citadel stretched the lower town, with its crowded population, its dense mass of houses, its temples and forum.
The style of architecture was peculiar to the city.

The Carthaginians abhorred straight lines, and all their buildings presented curves.

The rooms were for the most part circular, semicircular, or oval, and all exterior as well as interior angles were rounded off.

The material used in their construction was an artificial stone composed of pieces of rock cemented together with fine sand and lime, and as hard as natural conglomerate.