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ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF DOUGGA

Archaeological site
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9032Dougga, Tunisia
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2024
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2024

Dougga is one of the most beautiful Roman sites in Tunisia. Planted in a beautiful natural setting, many of the remains are superbly preserved.

The visit begins with the impressive theater: it could accommodate more than 3 500 spectators on 25 rows of terraces. Remains of columns with Corinthian capitals and a back wall, in good condition, frame an amphitheater damaged by the centuries. Behind the theater, to the north, the remains of a temple dedicated to Saturn. To the west of the theater was the village, with the forum and the original compass rose, a sundial on a paved square which lists the twelve winds blowing over the region. The best preserved monument is the capitol dedicated to the triad Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. It was built by a rich local family in 166, and the 6 beautiful striated columns are almost intact. They precede the main room which contained a statue of the goddess Juno. This capitol is considered as one of the most remarkable monuments of Roman Africa. Going along the forum by the path to the west, one reaches the temple of Juno Cælestis, built at the beginning of the 3rd century. There too, intact columns support a portico. South of the forum, we reach the Licinian baths, from the same period as the previous temple. These thermal baths have remarkably survived the ages: one can admire a room with 12 columns, mosaic floors as well as all the equipment of the thermal baths: palestra, where combat sports were practiced, changing rooms, steam rooms and a succession of rooms, going from hot to cold. Next to the baths is the house of Dionysus and Odysseus, which had sumptuous decorations, including a mosaic representing Odysseus charmed by the sirens (transferred to the Bardo Museum). Going back eastward, we arrive at the house of Trifolium (the clover). It is a brothel of the 3rd century whose rooms are arranged in a circle around a court. At its sides, one discovers private thermal baths, the thermal baths of the Cyclops, in bad state. One can observe latrines there: a simple stone bench in arc of circle, pierced of a dozen holes. These baths owe their name to the reason of a mosaic which was discovered there. It was then the place of heated political debates. In winter, a slave would sit there for an hour in order to heat his master's place!

Continuing towards the east, we discover the arch of Septimius Severus, first African emperor. Dated 205 AD, and in a bad state of conservation, it celebrates the accession of Dougga to the rank of municipality. Finally, we will complete the visit, further south, by one of the rare monuments testifying of the pre-Roman civilizations in Tunisia, the Libyan-Punic mausoleum of Dougga. It dates from the 2ndcentury BC and was dedicated to a Numidian prince, Ataban. Supporting 3 floors and a pyramidion, this monument, of a total height of 21 m, is decorated with motives of Greek inspiration (pilasters with aeolian capitals, Ionic columns or statue of winged woman) as well as Egyptian (sphinx).

The mausoleum was damaged in the 19th century by the British, who stole the funerary plaque to exhibit it in the British Museum. The other damages were repaired by a restoration in the early 20th century. Product of a double culture, Libyan and Punic, this mausoleum has thus allowed, thanks to the inscriptions engraved in the two languages, to decipher the Libyan alphabet. A unique site!


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2nsi
Visited in july 2022
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Quel beauté...????
Site exceptionnel très bien conservé et tellement immense !!! En pleine nature très loin du site de carthage en pleine ville bétonné et pollué...Passage obligatoire si vous êtes en vacance en Tunisie, Dougga est magnifique et si vous êtes amoureux de la nature Dougga restera dans votre cœur et votre tête toute votre vie...
nimar42
Visited in september 2018
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Ce lieu est incontournable,une vue panoramique,un vrai voyage dans l'histoire, un site antique à ne pas louper en Tunisie.

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