Archaeological sites in Tunisia: 9 ancient sites to visit

Founded, according to tradition, by Phoenician settlers from Tyre, Carthage became the capital of a maritime power before Rome destroyed it in 146 BC and rebuilt it as a Roman colony. The site, UNESCO-listed in 1979, is scattered across the northern suburbs of Tunis: Byrsa hill and its museum, the Antonine Baths by the sea, the Punic ports, the tophet, the theatre and the Roman villa quarter.

The sectors lie a few hundred metres to over a kilometre apart: move between them on foot, by taxi or on the TGM light rail, whose stations run alongside the site.

Built in the 3rd century in ancient Thysdrus, a town grown rich on the olive oil trade, the El Jem amphitheatre held some 35,000 spectators. UNESCO, which listed it in 1979, describes it as the largest amphitheatre in North Africa. You walk the tiers, the arena and the underground galleries where wild animals and gladiators waited.

The archaeological museum, a few hundred metres away, displays the mosaics found in the villas of Thysdrus; the amphitheatre ticket also covers it.

On a plateau overlooking a farming plain in the north-west, Thugga was an important Numidian town before it became a Roman city. UNESCO, which listed it in 1997, describes it as the best-preserved Roman town in North Africa. You see the 2nd-century Capitol, a theatre with about 3,500 seats, baths, mosaic houses and the Libyco-Punic mausoleum, a rare example of Numidian royal architecture.

The site is hilly with little shade: allow two to three hours to walk round it. Téboursouk is the nearest town.

On the Cap Bon coast, Kerkouane is a Punic town abandoned around the middle of the 3rd century BC, during the First Punic War, and never rebuilt by the Romans, so its street plan has come down to us unchanged. UNESCO-listed in 1985, it keeps its streets, a sanctuary and courtyard houses, many with a washroom and a plastered bathtub.

A small on-site museum displays objects found in the town and in the nearby necropolis.

Near Jendouba, in the Medjerda valley, Bulla Regia was a Numidian and then a Roman town. Its hallmark: villas whose reception rooms were built underground, around a courtyard, to escape the summer heat. Several have kept their mosaics in place, such as the House of the Hunt and the House of Amphitrite.

The site also has a theatre, baths and a forum. It is not on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In the centre-west of the country, ancient Sufetula has a rare ensemble: three temples side by side at the back of an enclosed forum, entered through a monumental gate dedicated to Antoninus Pius. Around it lie baths, houses, a theatre, the Arch of Diocletian and several Byzantine churches, showing the town mattered until the 7th century.

The site is on UNESCO's tentative list but not inscribed. A museum stands at the entrance.

North of Tunis, on the Bizerte road, Utica is thought to be one of the oldest Phoenician foundations in North Africa. Once a port, the town now lies several kilometres from the sea, pushed back by the silt of the Medjerda. It became the capital of the Roman province of Africa after the fall of Carthage in 146 BC.

You can visit Roman houses with mosaics, including the House of the Cascade, a Punic necropolis and a small museum. The site is not UNESCO-listed.

About thirty kilometres south of Tunis, Uthina was one of the first Roman colonies in Africa, founded under Augustus for veterans of the Thirteenth Legion. The site keeps a restored amphitheatre, the foundations of the Capitol, large cisterns and baths.

The mosaics of the House of the Laberii, found here, are on display at the Bardo Museum. The site is not UNESCO-listed.

On the shore of the Gulf of Bou Grara, opposite Djerba, Gigthis was a Punic trading post that grew into a prosperous Roman town. Excavations have uncovered the forum, several temples including one dedicated to Serapis, baths and the area around the port.

The site has few facilities and sees few visitors. It is not UNESCO-listed.