ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF BULLA REGIA
The site of Bulla Regia is still three quarters buried, and already the elements that have been uncovered really justify going to see them.
Be prepared to be offered the assistance of a guide, not always necessary because there are maps and explanations in French on the site. In addition to the entrance fee, you may have to pay an extra fee for permission to photograph.
The visit usually starts with the Julia Memmia baths, with their interesting mosaics; they were part of a rich patrician villa, which was named after its owner. Although one can imagine the global arrangement, the whole is much less well preserved than the theater, in the east, of rather modest dimensions, but of which most of the terraces are intact. It is located behind a large square, near a temple dedicated to Isis. Returning to the western part, above the baths, one begins the circuit towards the north, and one passes the ruins of buildings of various periods: a small Byzantine fortress, two Christian basilicas of the intermediate period (5th-6th centuries).
It is at the level of the necropolis that one discovers the most original part of the site: underground villas, built by the Romans, not with the aim of protecting themselves, but to benefit from the freshness of the earth. Three villas are to be visited: the house of the Hunting, whose atrium with open sky, well preserved, presents a gallery of colonnades serving the rooms and underground rooms where one discovered superb mosaics; the house of Amphitrite, the most northern, also remarkable by the quality of conservation of its mosaics, and the house of the Fishing, in the east, more modest and relatively in good state. The three constructions testify to the genius of Roman architectural engineers who knew how to make the best use of space and materials, perfecting aeration and support, as shown by the ridge vault in the House of the Hunt.
The center of the village was located to the east, towards the theater. It included the forum, the capitol, of which nothing remains, and a temple dedicated to Apollo. One leaves by the theater and the thermal baths. In front of the entrance, a small museum gathering in two rooms some works of art, sculptures, coins and a tomb. Unfortunately, as for many archaeological sites, the rarest pieces, especially the sculptures, have been moved to the Bardo Museum in Tunis.