Ruins of Roman baths in Carthage. Carthage. Tunisia - “Carthage” – ancient excavations, stones, baths. And what a story!!” Baths of Anthony in Carthage

So, friends. To make the information publicly available, at your request, I decided to post an article about this trip here.

How to get from Hammamet to Carthage, Tunisia. Baths of Antony Pius.

The day you start, you need to get to Tunis, to do this, go to the old city - Medina, near it there is an intercity bus stop. The stop can be found by looking at the General store, with a red sign, in the photo below (by the way, there are inexpensive products there!). You need them, they run frequently, every hour. You can just come and wait for the bus in the shade. You need to go to Tunisia itself, of course. The ticket price is 4.2 dinars.

Next you need to go to the station metro station "Bab alioua", which is located next to the bus station where bus 105 brought you. In fact, these are not really metro, they are more like trams, but in Tunisia they are called metro. You need to sit on train number 6. You need to go to the station "Tunis marine" The ticket costs 0.3 dinars (zoo milim)

Be careful, there are other trains, you need №6 At the Tunis marine station you need to go to Tunis Nord railway station. It is located directly opposite the exit from the Tunis marine station. Buy at the entrance ticket to Karhage Hannibal station for 0.7 dinars, wait for the train.

By train you need to go to the station "Carhage Hannibal"

Trains in Tunisia are not like ours, they may seem a little wild. But everything is fine, all the people are friendly and ready to help and advise.

From the train you can see the city of Tunisia itself, built by the Arabs from the ruins of Carthage.

As soon as you leave the station, cross the railway tracks and in front of you will be beautiful view on the sea, through the palm trees. The Phoenicians knew where to build Carthage). Go down until you see the sign “LES THERMES ANTONIA”. Follow the sign. 200 meters and in front of you will be the entrance to Carthage.

The baths are only the first object of Carthage, a small part. But it is also of great interest.

Entrance costs 10 dinars (about 330 rubles). Don’t rush to give this money away! If you go down a little lower to the sea, you can find another entrance, which may not be guarded or controlled in any way. Here you can go for free.

It’s worth getting back to Hammamet in the same way. By train: "Karhage Hannibal" - "Tunis Nord" By metro: train №6 "Tunis marine" - "Bab alioua" By bus №105 to Hammamet.

It is worth noting that on the road from Hammamet to Carthage, tickets are hardly checked anywhere. It won't be difficult to pass as a hare. However, remember that this is a risk and there may be checks.

The territory of Tunisia has historically always been inhabited by various peoples, so it is not surprising that many objects have been preserved on this land cultural heritage. This article tells you which attractions of Tunisia every tourist must visit.

Historical sights of Tunisia

The amphitheater was built by the proconsul Gordian, who ruled North Africa in the mid-3rd century. The scale of the construction was enormous - the theater could accommodate thirty thousand people, and the length of the structure was 65 meters. But the consul’s plans were not destined to come true - construction was stopped 8 years after the start of work.

The amphitheater is very reminiscent of the Roman Colosseum, which is why films about gladiators are often filmed here. Some ancient Roman mosaics still exist today. For lovers of antiquity - TOP 40 attractions of Italy and historical places of Turkey.

IN North Africa For a long time there was the Phoenician state of Carthage with its capital of the same name. This country for a long time offered fierce resistance to the Roman Empire, but in the Punic War, Carthage was defeated, and Roman legionaries destroyed the once prosperous Mediterranean port of Carthage to the ground. However, the ruins of this city have survived to this day, and tourists visit these places every year to look at the remains of buildings from the 4th century BC.

Cave settlements are the only way to hide from the heat in the desert. From time immemorial, Berber tribes have lived in caves cut out of holes in the mountains. Surprisingly, 1,800 people continue to live in such houses. Each apartment has several rooms, in general the layout is no different from ordinary apartment in the city. Locals they even manage to keep livestock in cave houses. The cave city constantly attracts great amount curious visitors.

During the reign of the Roman Emperor Anthony Pius, baths were built in Carthage, the ruins of which have survived to this day. At one time, the baths were considered the most important buildings in Roman Carthage - local nobility regularly gathered here to discuss political and social issues. The buildings themselves were supported by massive marble columns, and recently one of them was restored and put in its original place. This Tunisian landmark offers scenic views of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Ribat Haarlem fortress is the most famous landmark of Tunisia. It was built in the 8th century to strengthen the defense of Monastir from external enemies. Gradually, the castle expanded, new buildings were added to it, and today a whole historical complex and religious shrine remains. Now there is a museum here Islamic art, in the halls of the fortress various mosaics, chronicles, textile items, paintings are exhibited, and a beautiful mosque has also been preserved.

National Museum- one of the oldest cultural places in Tunisia. The building is made in the Byzantine style. All archaeological finds from Carthage are exhibited in this museum. Among the exhibits there are sculptures, pottery, stone figurines from the Roman and Phoenician periods of the history of Carthage. In front of the entrance to the museum there are statues of ancient Roman gods. The windows of the building offer a magnificent view of Tunisia and the Mediterranean.

Theatrical art was considered honorable in the Roman Empire, so theaters were built in all corners of the vast state. Tourists often ask what to see in Tunisia from such establishments? The most beautiful theater was located in Carthage. At one time, the theater seated 5,000 people. The stage has not survived to this day - it was destroyed by the Arabs back in the 7th century, but tourists can examine the ruins of the spectator rows and several marble columns on which the entire massive structure was supported. Nowadays various events and exhibitions are held here.

Port El Kantaoui is a popular tourist centre, which constantly hosts entertainment events and discos. However, this city also has a historical landmark of Tunisia - the fortress gates, which were built in the middle of the 12th century. The city's defensive structures are an example of Muslim medieval fortification art. At the same time, the fortress gate fits perfectly into the cheerful and riotous atmosphere of Port El Kantaoui.

The main defensive structure of ancient Carthage was the Byrsa fortress. During the siege of the city, the Romans destroyed the citadel, but the ruins of the huge fortress have survived to this day. Every year archaeologists find more and more artifacts here, including Phoenician ones. Most of the items found are now stored in the national museum, but some of the artifacts and the living quarters themselves are located directly in the fortress. Birsa is also home to several Christian cathedrals and churches.

In the 19th century, the ruins of the city of Dougga were found in the northwestern part of Tunisia. This is a Roman settlement, the construction of which dates back to the 2nd-3rd century BC. Almost all the cultural buildings of that time have been preserved here - the temple of Juno Celeste, the Capitol, the mausoleum of Ateban, Triumphal Arch Septimius Severa, theater and baths. Every year, a festival of ancient drama is held on the stage of the theater in the city of Dugga, which annually attracts thousands of tourists.

Carthage

It would be strange if Carthage were not included in the list world heritage UNESCO. It would be no less strange if we ignored such a landmark. Of course, we headed there right after the Bardo Museum.

Carthage is called Carthage in French. It is located 20 km northeast of the capital, and there are numerous signs leading to it. It's almost impossible to get lost! We are entering the famous suburb of Tunisia.

Today's Carthage demonstrates to the average tourist three cultural layers: the very modest remains of a Phoenician city on the hill of Birsa, numerous ruins of ancient Roman buildings and the modern aristocratic suburb of Tunisia with the presidential palace.

From school we know that Carthage must be destroyed - at least, that’s what the Romans thought. And they destroyed it! To remember the other milestones of its history, I will give a brief historical background:

Carthage was founded in 814 BC. colonists from the Phoenician city of Tyre. Due to the beneficial geographical location the city turns into the capital of the largest state Western Mediterranean. By the 3rd century BC. e. Carthage controls North Africa, Southern Spain, Western Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.

After Rome's victory in the Third Punic War, Carthage lost its conquests and was destroyed in 146 BC. A century later, a Roman colony was founded on this site, which became the capital of the province of Africa.

After the conquest of North Africa in 670, the Arabs founded the city of Kairouan, which became the new center of the Ifriqiya region, and Carthage quickly faded away.

Remember how Milady Terekhova in “The Three Musketeers” calls out to the fanatic Felton?

It was to the god Baal that the Carthaginians offered a terrible sacrifice - the first-born in the family...

However, when retelling such terrible details, one must always keep in mind the source of this information. And history, as we know, is written by the winner, who is always more interested in presenting the vanquished in a blacker color than he actually was. Let the descendants think: it serves him right! Having learned about the human sacrifices of the Carthaginians, one just wants to exclaim: what a blessing that the noble Romans won a victory over such a vile rival, where they did not hesitate to kill a defenseless baby in the name of a formidable deity!

And after shouting to our heart's content, we'll think about it. Carthage was the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. His army and navy were so strong that Rome seriously feared for its future. Phoenician sailors were the first to circumnavigate Africa. Phoenician scientists came up with the letter on the basis of which the alphabet of all modern European peoples was created.

Could a people reach such heights if their first male child was killed? I dare to suggest that in this situation, neither the First, nor the Second, nor, especially, the Third Punic War would have been required - the Carthaginians would have exterminated themselves.

Now, standing on Carthaginian soil, I will turn to those who give life to man. How long would an idol stand for a deity who wanted to devour every first-born child you born? It’s scary to imagine what you would do with that unfortunate priest who tried to convey to you the will of such a bloodthirsty god. Such a sacrifice contradicts all the instincts inherent in us by nature, which help us to survive ourselves and preserve our race. And even the stern God of the Old Testament was forced to intervene and stop the hand of Abraham raised over his son... For who needs a god who orders us to kill our children?

It is probably no coincidence that scientists come to the conclusion that this scary legend the story of child sacrifices in Carthage is not true, and mass child burials only speak of the high child mortality rate in those days.

However, let's get back to reality...

PHOTOS OF TICKETS!!!

The archaeological museum-reserve includes:
- Baths of Antoninus Pius;
- Museum on Birsa Hill;
- Quarter of Roman villas;
- Theater and Odeon;
- Amphitheater and circus...

The ticket is single for all attractions. You also need to pay separately for photography.

As always, we arrived in Carthage in the evening, and it was necessary to clearly understand where to run so as not to waste precious time. We start with the Baths of Antoninus Pius, one of the most spectacular objects of Carthage.

Baths of Antoninus Pius

The baths were built right on the seashore between 147 and 162. AD and were second in size only to the Baths of Trajan in Rome.

A whole thermal bath has been created around archaeological park. The entrance alley divides the park into two parts. On the left are ancient Phoenician burials, house foundations, and swimming pools. On the right are the ruins of huge baths built under the Roman Emperor Antoninus.

Roman aristocrats visited the baths not so much for hygienic procedures, but for relaxation, communication, and business negotiations. It was to that time that the ancient Roman proverb goes back: “the patrician went to the bathhouse, and at the same time washed himself.”

From huge structure Only the ruins of the lower, utility floor were preserved, where water was heated and from where steam and heated air were supplied.

Individual surviving columns installed by archaeologists rise above the ruins and give an idea of ​​how tall it was. main floor term.

Roman Villa Quarter

The archaeological park of Roman villas (Parc archeologique des Villas romaines) is located on the site of a former residential quarter, which, in turn, occupies the territory of a Punic necropolis of the 3rd–2nd centuries. BC.

We are walking along a street that is already two thousand years old!

One of the 3rd century Roman houses was partially restored in 1960.

Based on the mosaic depicting birds found here, this villa was called the Poultry House (maison de la Voliere).

The basements of the house are full of other mosaics.

By the way, after visiting the museum in Bardo, all sorts of thoughts come to mind about where it is still more appropriate to contemplate them. And we must admit that art dies in a museum...

Column in the atrium of a Roman villa.

Time was running out. Having limited ourselves to examining the Poultry House villa, we rushed to the next attraction of Carthage. A security guard who happened to meet us, not quite on topic, advised us to take a shortcut through the field.

For some reason, we took his advice and walked for a long, long time through a sun-scorched wasteland, past a newly built mosque to the Odeon.

El Abidine Mosque (2003)

Presumably, the Odeon was built under Emperor Septimius Severus for poetry competitions. Destroyed by vandals, and subsequently its ruins served as material for Byzantine buildings. What we saw through the fence somehow did not inspire us, and we hurried back to the car, which had been left in front of the entrance to the quarter of Roman villas. What we cut “across the field” remains a mystery to us...

We had to ask passers-by for directions to Birsa Hill a couple of times.

Birsa Hill

Cathedrale St. Louis (1890)

On the hill rises a majestic cathedral in the Byzantine-Moorish style. It is consecrated in honor of the King of France, Louis IX, who died in these places during the crusade he undertook to north Africa in 1270. Until 1964, the church housed the body of the Archbishop of the Catholic Mission in North Africa, Cardinal Lavigerie, who was reburied in Rome after the declaration of independence of Tunisia.

Nearby is the entrance to the National Museum of Carthage (Musee National de Carthage), located in the building former monastery The White Priesthood, whose monks laid the foundation for the collection.

On the outside walls there are huge panels with Roman mosaics.

On the ground floor of the museum there is a collection of ceramics, Punic tombstones, funerary vases, and oil lamps. On the second floor there is sculpture and many small exhibits: coins, jewelry, dishes, etc.

A copy of the giant head of Princess Antonina (the original is in the Louvre).

Construction of Roman Carthage on the ruins of a Phoenician city.

Fragments of an ancient Roman mosaic.

The excavations of the hill of Byrsa are one of the rare sites in Carthage with surviving structures from the time of the Phoenicians. Presumably, this is a residential quarter of the first quarter of the 2nd century BC.

In the distance you can see an island in the harbor - a former Phoenician port.

On observation deck An ancient Roman sculpture is exhibited next to the museum.

At the exit from Carthage, a policeman stopped us - noticing a camera in the hands of the navigator, he asked us to put it away and not take it all the way to Sidi Bou Said.

Sidi Bou Said

Sidi Bou Said is located a few kilometers north of Carthage. The entrance to the hill where the center is located is blocked by a barrier, but it can be raised for a small fee. Having some difficulty parking on the steep streets, we go for a walk.

The main tourist attraction here is the game of rich contrasts: snow-white walls of buildings in the company of piercing blue window casings, shutters and figured bars.

In general, Sidi Bou Said is a popular popular town, where everything is tailored for tourists. Even the colors of the houses. Perhaps this combination is typical for Andalusia (from where the Arabs moved here), but not at all for Tunisia - we have already seen this.

They say that Sidi Bou Said became famous after the famous German expressionist August Macke painted the painting “View of the Mosque” here, in which he was able to convey all the colors of this city. And in general, there is too much here that suggests a lyrical mood. Luckily, no one grabs you by the sleeve or asks you to “just look”... Perhaps the traders are already tired after a hot day...

Without a doubt, we are also tired - is it a joke to enjoy Tunisian sights all day? Medina of Tunisia, Bardo Museum, Carthage... It's time and honor to know!

I'll tell you a secret, Sidi Bou Said was the best ending to a long tourist day that I've ever seen. Probably the reason for this is the invigorating mint tea with pine nuts.

This kind of tea is served everywhere here, but it is believed that the most correct one is at Cafe de Nattes, where we wandered quite by accident.

This is the most cinematic cafe in Tunisia - its interiors with spiral green-and-red columns and mat-covered benches have appeared in a dozen films, including the French saga about the restless Angelique.

Interiors of Cafe de Nattes.

We sat on the open terrace and slowly sipped local tea-with-nuts, lazily watching the action below... A most exciting pastime!

It seems to me that those great people whose portraits now hang on the walls of the famous cafe were guilty of this activity: Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, Andre Gide...

It's getting dark, it's time to return to Mahdia. Before a long journey, you need to refresh yourself. Downstairs they sell an authentic Arab dish - meat in pita bread, generously diluting the dish with not at all Arabic french fries. A young Arab at the counter asks what sauces to add. I carelessly ask you to add harissa to my flatbread - it looks too appetizing on the plate. The kebab man turned out to be a bad person: looking at me slyly, he added sauce to me from the heart. I couldn’t finish eating my shawarma, despite all my love for hot spices - it turned out to be incredibly hot! So we went back to the hotel, calming the fire in our mouths with copious amounts of water. Yes, yes, I know, I know, water won’t help. What should we do?!

The way home was along Tunisian highway number 1. How can a driver have fun on an empty straight road? Only music. As we moved away from the capital, there was less and less European music, and more and more Arabic music. Have you tried listening to it for hours on end? I haven't tried it either. For the untrained ear, this turned out to be sheer torture - the melodies did not seem to differ from one another even by a note, and the lyrics consisted entirely of howls. In general, we drove the rest of the way in silence, and returned to the hotel well after midnight.

To be continued...


Our wanderings in search of ancient Carthage were chaotic. We looked at the map and marked a number of places to visit. interesting places, left the car in the parking lot next to the thermal baths and went wherever they looked. They circled and returned. We got lost twice and climbed through some thorny bushes. Fences inexplicably appeared along the path of selfless searches. We searched for an hour for the amphitheater (no one knows, including the traffic controller standing 50 meters from it), were wet by the rain and dried by the sun.

The results of wandering under the cut.



As I already wrote, most of the buildings that have reached us are Roman. Carthage was indeed destroyed, but 100 years after the Punic city was razed to the ground, Julius Caesar put forward a plan to rebuild the city. After his death, large-scale construction work began within the boundaries of the old city, part of Birsa Hill was razed, public infrastructure buildings and residential areas were erected.


Baths of Antoninus Pius.

The most popular tourist site of Carthage - located on the seashoreBaths of Antoninus Piusand an adjacent small excavated site of the Roman city, available for inspection. This is where they take it organized excursions, it is crowded here, there is a modest cafe on the territory with a beautiful view of the ruins, where you can relax after exploring and drink coffee (the coffee is delicious!). The guidebooks ominously warn that behind the thermal baths on the hill there is the presidential residence - there, indeed, you can see white villas in the green gardens and the national flag flutters - and photography in that direction is strictly prohibited, but no one is vigilant about this.

The thermal baths are an impressive structure covering an area of ​​1.8 hectares. Their construction dates back to 146-162 years; in 389, the baths underwent a major overhaul, which, like all repairs, had devastating consequences - due to mistakes, the load-bearing structures began to collapse, the building was mothballed and subsequently dismantled for other construction needs.


Huge hall. I wonder what was here?

What we see now are the remains of basements, water supply, heating and storage systems. Two miraculously preserved columns give an idea of ​​the height of the halls on the first floor - the ceiling of the frigidarium hall with an area of ​​1042 sq.m. supported by 8 powerful granite columns 20.6 m high (for some reason some sources indicate a height of 15 m)


Part of the thermal water supply system

The baths were built in accordance with the requirements for public baths in the Roman Empire. They were divided into two sections - men's and women's; each section was equipped with steam rooms, rooms with warm and cold water. The thermal baths had swimming pools, a gymnasium, a solarium, as well as public latrine toilets with a capacity of up to 100 seats. A marble staircase that has not survived led to the seashore. The premises were lavishly decorated with sculptures and mosaics.


Huge basement rooms - some kind of hall with a colonnade. Behind the white fence is the presidential villa.

The Baths of Antoninus Pius are noticeably smaller than their sisters - the Baths of Caracalla or huge complex bath of Diocletian in Rome, - but for provincial town they were truly grandiose. There was no stadium (round or oval) at the thermal baths.


Reconstruction of the thermal baths. It’s clear, but the plastic cover of the layout is very cloudy (((

Near the points from which the most advantageous view of the excavations opens, there is an information board with a reconstruction and a model of the thermal baths.


Grotto at the crossroads

After wandering through the basements of the baths, you can explore the nearby residential area; there are many small but interesting objects from the Roman era. You can see underground Roman cisterns, the remains of a multi-columned basilica, a Christian chapel, many small fountains and nymphaeans, and the ruins of residential buildings.


Quarter near the thermal baths Remains of the basilica.


Remains of something with a pool.

To the north-west of the baths, on the Odeon hill, is locatedquarter of rich Roman villas. During the Punic era there was a necropolis here. Probably, the Romans did not suffer from excessive scrupulousness, or did not allow the possibility that their peace could be disturbed by the dead of others. The villas, surrounded by high walls, were conveniently located on the hillside so that they opened (and still open) beautiful view the sea, the harbor and the misty stretch of mountains in the distance. The streets are paved with stone, have grooves for water drainage, and the rises are decorated with steps. Some houses had open rooms in which shops were located.


One of the streets of Odeon Hill. Two carts could easily pass each other here.


Round rotunda, marked on the plan as the "Temple of the Nymphs"

The most famous villa of the Odeon hill isVilla Aviary(2nd century AD), which got its name because of the mosaics depicting birds. In the center of the main courtyard there was an octagonal pool, now turned into a flower bed.


Villa Aviary. View of the peristyle from the second floor terrace.


Villa Aviary. Mosaic "Peacock"

The villa had an extensive terrace decorated with statues, as well as a decent-sized bathhouse with a cement floor, although some sources call it an aquarium. The peristyle was framed by pink marble columns, not only traditionally round, but also square in plan with helical flutes.


Villa Aviary. Large terrace.


Villa Aviary. Pool. Semicircular niches for sculptures are visible


Villa Aviary. Round and square columns.

At the top of the hill there is a mysterious field overgrown with small bushes - residential areas not discovered as a result of excavations. You need to walk there with caution, because mysterious gaps and vaulted passages somewhere underground are constantly appearing under your feet, and you can see the remains of some buildings covered with earth. The entire territory is surrounded by a fence and can only be viewed by passing the block of villas.


Top of Odeon Hill. Unexcavated neighborhoods.

Located at the foot of the hillamphitheater with excellent acoustics , the same age as the Villa Aviary, mercilessly restored and actively used for various musical events.


Amphitheater.

Another interesting public building wasOdeon, which gave its name to the entire hill - a room for rhetorical debates, speeches by reciters and poets. Literary competitions were held there.


Remains of the Odeon.

Opposite the exit from the theater, in the courtyards of modern residential buildings, excavations of another Roman villa with a three-column portico and terrace are visible. Past this villa you need to climb Birsa Hill.


Villa at the foot of Birsa Hill

 

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