Travel Guide Chemtou

25 km from Jendouba, on the road to the south. Numidian village founded in the IVth -Vth centuries B.C. which draws its wealth from the great agricultural fertility of the valley of Medjerda, Chemtou is romanized before dying out towards the IXth -Xth centuries. With vestiges extending over a period of more than a millennium, the site is today vast of more than 80 hectares.Located near the Tunisian-Algerian border, Chemtou is at the crossroads of two important roads: the one linking Carthage to Hippo Reggius (now Annaba) and the one linking Thabraca (now Tabarka) to Sicca Veneria (now Le Kef). From the Numidian period, important commercial contacts existed with the Mediterranean basin and allowed the export of its materials. Indeed, the city is especially famous for its red and yellow marble quarries exploited by the Romans; it was one of the most precious marbles of the Roman Empire. Owned by the emperor, these quarries provided material for the construction of monuments in Rome and Byzantium. The road built under Hadrian in 129 allowed to bring the marble to the port of Tabarka. There remains from this period an altar used for the worship of Baal-Hammon, then of Saturn, and which became later a Muslim marabout.One also finds on one of the surrounding hills a sanctuary whose architectural elements make it possible to establish the importance of the Numidian city.