SITE AND MUSEUM OF UTICA

Utique was a coastal city that various authors (Appien, César, Caton the young...) evoke in their writings through its port. It was located at the bottom of a gulf, near the mouth of the Medjerda, but the alluvial deposits have blocked the gulf over the centuries, which has caused the sea to recede, which is now 12 km from the ancient city. Utica was described as a great port in the time of Julius Caesar, and there are indeed Punic tombs and remains of Roman times. It is regrettable that the archaeological site is not better presented.

The museum is located at the bottom of an archaeological garden where you can see the remains of small Roman baths. It is composed of two rooms. The one on the right contains the Punic collections with a lot of furniture found in the tombs of the necropolises. We will see ceramic vases and others imported from Greece or Italy, jewelry, ivory and bone objects and even ostrich eggshells. The other room traces the Roman period with objects from necropolises and dwellings. The statues are interesting: a marble statue of the god Aesculapius, the heroic healer son of Apollo and the unfaithful mortal lover Coronis translated as the Roman god of Health and Medicine. To see also, the marble statue of the satyr musician Marsyas who had pretended to surpass Apollo and who was punished as well as a sculpture present on a fountain showing Ariadne asleep. Finally a stone statue represents Hercules.