Things to see and do Ptolémaïs – Tolmeta

Go south, on 200 m, to the door of Taucheira with its two towers, dating from the th century B.C., like the construction of the rampart and the old street trail. The Ptolemais area, restored in Roman then Byzantine times, draws a quadrilateral about 1 450 m east and 1 700 m from the shore to the first slopes of the mountains. Larger than that of Apollonia, it is in fact gigantic compared to the area occupied by the city in the centre. To explain this phenomenon, archaeologists argued that the remaining space was used, in the event of attacks, to protect neighbouring populations or to shelter military troops.

At the end of 100 m on the hill, we reach the height of this Byzantine basilica 100 m farther on the right. It is located a few metres from a Roman villa (th century) where a mosaic pavement has been discovered with busts of the Four Seasons, exposed to the site museum. The latter included a residential part, a private temple in the centre of a peristyle court, private thermal baths and shops.

By returning to the path, always in the direction of the hills, we go to the odéon of the beginning of the Roman era. In Greek times it was the bouleuterion, where the assembly of the citizens was held after the abolition of the dynasty of battiades kings. There is still a small chamber with a hundred seats where conferences and concerts were held. He was then used as an aquatic theatre by the Romans. The pit of the orchestra changed in the pool hosted the rather daring aquatic games of actors of both sexes. In Byzantine times, the obsidian was transformed into a tank.

Go beyond the small Byzantine basilica and continue straight towards the south, on a little over 200 m, until the great basilica (not far from the Porte Gate), sometimes called "fortified church", some archaeologists think its thick walls and narrow doors the fish to protect the populations in the event of attacks. In any case, its arcades have gone through the centuries and deserve a detour.

On the street of the Monuments, you will notice a thermal establishment, on the left towards the middle of the street. It stands out by its basin and dates from the end of the th century.

By continuing to go down to the sea, we arrive at the tétrastyle arc, of which there is little left: it closes east the Rue des Monuments, marked to the west by the triumphal arch.

From the door of Taucheira, go down in a straight line to the north west following, on 250 m, the plot of the wall of the wall to the Roman amphitheatre of which there is little left, the Byzantine having used its stones for other buildings.

100 m later, the great place above the tanks was the Greek agora, which was rearranged in a forum at the beginning of the Roman era. At this point of the visit, be vigilant if you are with children: The place is pierced by many non-meshboxes eyes giving directly access to deep tanks of 5 m! The visit of the tanks, with their maze of arched galleries, is the highlight of the visit. They can be reached by descending a small staircase at the south-east end of the square. Fed by an aqueduct, they were used to satisfy the freshwater needs of the city, in the absence of any source within 20 km of distance.

The Petit museum features beautiful mosaics and statues on the site. Some are lecoque in English, others not.

In the first room, very beautiful mosaics come from the Palais des Columns and the house in Triconque. On the left wall, mosaics with fish, fowls, jellyfish heads, discovered in the Palais des Columns (th century BC). On the wall opposite, the large paving of mosaics with busts of the tolerable seasons.

The left room houses inscriptions of the first centuries of Islam from the Site site (Al-Marj) and the stelas dating from the first Christian centuries. There are also statues and pediments of marble in good condition, including two faceless funeral statues, similar to those found in the necropolis of Cyrene, and a th century sarcophagus (extended Roman couple).

The hall of the right preserves mosaics of Byzantine times. A pavement coming from the villa of Orphée shows Charmant charming the attroupées beasts (th or th century). ). A marble fountain adorned with dancing bacchantes allows to imagine the ancient splendour of the Rue des Monuments. It would be the Roman copy of an original model of the famous Greek sculptor Callimaque of Athens (end of the Fifth century BC), to whom one attributed the invention of a new order of columns, said Corinthian.