Archaeological Museum of El-Djem

The Museum includes an important collection of Roman mosaics, covering a period from the 2nd century to the 5th century, which brings together a good part of the pieces discovered in the city, The museum was built on the site of a Roman villa whose spatial organization it restores: a central courtyard surrounded by a peristyle – courtyard – which gives access to the rooms. There are exhibited objects – sculptures, mosaic paintings, ceramics, etc. – from excavation campaigns carried out at Thysdrus as well as in the vicinity of the city. The museum gives direct access to an “archaeological park” including the remains of the so-called villa of the peacock and of Sollertiana, a superb patrician residence which has preserved many of its mosaic floors in situ. In the same area, a life-size reconstruction of the “House of Africa” was carried out, a sumptuous aristocratic residence built around the 170s AD.

Amphitheatre D'el Jem

The amphitheatre was built around 238 AD in Thysdrus, located in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis in present-day El Djem, Tunisia. It is one of the best preserved Roman stone ruins in the world, and is unique in Africa. As other amphitheatres in the Roman Empire, it was built for spectator events, and it is one of the biggest amphitheatres in the world. The estimated capacity is 35,000, and the sizes of the big and the small axes are respectively 148 metres (486 ft) and 122 metres (400 ft). The amphitheatre is built of stone blocks, located on a flat ground, and is exceptionally well conserved.[1]