Things to see and do Sabratha

These thermal baths are the only remains of a Roman villa. Left of the Punic Museum, slabs of geometric mosaics (th century) still decorate the soils of the atrium (entrance) and a frigidarium (cold bath) flanked by two swimming pools.

Opposite the Basilica of Apuleius, south of the temple of Liber Pater, lies the République Temple (th century). ), with the north-west corner of the Fontaine Tullus fountain, with the statue without head of the latter. Flavius Tullus was the patron who made this fountain gift to his city (th century). ). It is not clear what god was dedicated to the temple, the gift of the proconsul of Africa to his emperors, Marc Aurèle and Lucius Verus.

South of the fountain of Flavius Tullus, the imposing temple of Liber Pater testifies to the Popularity of the Cult that was made here in Dionysus. It was built in the th century and restored in the fourth century after the earthquake.

In front of the temple of Liber Pater is the location of the forum (th century), the nucleus of public life in Roman times, destroyed and restored in the fourth century, following the earthquake or attacks by Libyan tribes.

The giant amphitheatre (late 1st century) is almost km far away in south-east direction, and its remains may not be worth a détour detour. It could contain 10 000 people, for an area equivalent to two thirds of the Colosseum in Rome!

You must admire the pavement of the mosaic of the tepidarium (warm room of Roman thermal Baths), on the seafront, where the central medallion of Neptune's head, the marine god, preserved at the Sabratha museum was extracted.

The obelisk is easily distinguished. He was housed in a residential area rejected in the southwest of Byzantine walls. This rich cave of sandstone shaped by the aiguille-Hellenistic era has been recovered by Italian archaeologists. Other mausoleums of this type have been discovered in Libya. It distinguishes a representation of the Phoenician god Bès, hunting the lions, as well as a representation of Hercules killing the lion of Nemea. The god Bès, a dwarf hunter of lions, was loved by the Phoenicians and Egyptians. As protector of the boats, he also became the protector of the dead.

By taking over the rue du Cardo, we will pass in front of the entrance door of Byzantine walls, which were rebuilt under Justinian using materials from older constructions such as the mausoleum of Bès.

Both were built in the fourth century by Christians in the Roman city and rehabilitated in Byzantine times. Between the great Christian Basilica and the theatre wall (south-east of the Decumanus pathway), one crosses a Christian cemetery where a stele recalls the memory of Irène, a girl of «three years and one month».

The thermal baths of the sea (th and th centuries). I.C.) are the largest in Sabratha. They still keep magnificent tiles with geometric motifs. Their marble hexagonal latrines are also very well preserved, which claimed the author Philip Yard: " It is likely that 90% of photographers visiting Sabratha take a picture of their families sitting on the seats of the latrines "!

It was built under the reign of Augustus and decorated with marble under the République reign (th century). There are Jupiter, Junon and Minerve.

This church was offered to the city by the Byzantine emperor Justinian in the th century. It is built from materials from older buildings. However, it has magnificent mosaics of mosaics, including that of the majesté peacock, now exposed to the Sabratha museum.

It is one of the oldest in the city (th century. ). He was dedicated to the Egyptian deity who was awarded the gift of healing the sick. The cult of Sérapis dates from Hellenistic times. It is the first king Lagide, Ptolemy I, who would have set the cult and characteristics of the god Sérapis, the syncretic deity embodying the characteristics of the Egyptian god Osiris and of Greek gods like Asclépios, God of Medicine. Subsequently, his cult developed in the Roman world.