Classics Trips
TUNISIA TRIP 28th October-5th November 2006
Day 1 Saturday 28th October
After flying to Tunis airport we checked in at the very welcoming Hotel Sidi Bou Said. The hotel is on a hilltop overlooking the sea and the bay around Carthage itself. Sidi Bou Said is regarded as the prettiest village in Tunisia with its immaculate white houses, adorned with bright blue shutters and doors….
Day 2 Sunday 29th October
We spent the whole day visiting Tunis and ancient Carthage, starting at the Bardo Museum, an 18th century palace houses the most impressive collection of mosaics anywhere in the Roman world: these include scenes from Greek mythology, sea scapes, gods and goddesses and hunting, and the poet Virgil himself… We visited the medina, the original walled city of Tunis and wandered through the souk (market). We drove out to Carthage, now situated in an affluent Tunis suburb, once one of the most famous cities in the ancient world, the legendary home of Queen Dido who committed suicide when abandoned by Aeneas, the mythical ancestor of the Romans. We saw the remains of the city the Romans built on top of the Carthage they destroyed in 146BC, including the monumental Antonine Baths, the largest baths in the Roman Empire outside Rome itself. A few Punic houses, a tophet (children’s burial ground) and dockyards down at the port are all that remain from Carthage itself.
Odysseus and the Sirens
Day 3 Monday 30th October
We travelled south west to the Roman town of Thuburbo Maius (about 60km SW of Tunis) which became an important trading centre after the time of the emperor Hadrian. We then visited Dougga Tunisia’s showpiece Roman site Dougga, including a well-preserved Roman theatre cut into the hillside and several impressive temples – and, for those who prefer the seedier side of life, public toilets and a brothel. There is also a Carthaginian Mausoleum (tomb) with architectural Egyptian, Greek and Persian features. We stayed in Hotel Thugga, where wild boar and pomegrantes were on the evening menu.
The theatre at Dougga
2nd years in front of the Capitol temple
Day 4 Tuesday 31st October
We travelled north west to visit the sites of Bulla Regia and Chemtou before returning to Hotel Thugga. Bulla Regia now occupied by grazing sheep is famous for its underground villas, complete with which helped keep their inhabitants cool in the heat of summer. After lunch we drove to Chemtou where honey-cloured marble, prized by the Romans, was quarrried by slaves and climbed up the hill to the temple of Saturn which once dominated the site.
Underground villa at Bulla Regia
Day 5 Wednesday 1st November
We travel south to Makthar via the site of the battle of Zama, the final battle of the 2nd punic war between hannibal and Scipio. Mactaris (now Makthar) was a town once captured by Masinissa, the Numidian king. The town includes an impressive arch erected in hour of the emperor Trajan. On to Sbeitla, once called Sufetula. This town has, amongst other attractions, three wonderfully preserved temples overlooking the Forum. We then drove south to the oasis town of Tozeur.
Trajan’s arch at Maktaris
Entrance to forum at Sufetula
Day 6 Thursday 2nd November
We took a jeep trip into the desert to visit the Star Wars film sets, before crossing the Chott El Jerid Salt Lake to Douz a small oasis village, where we spent an hour riding a camels at a a slightly more sedate pace than the earlier jeep drive. We then travel east to Matmata and its trogolodyte town. The underground homes are still mostly inhabited by Berbers.
Camel trek
2nd Year Specialist with Berber lady
Day 7 Friday 3rd November
We visited a trogolodyte dwelling before driving north to the spectacular Roman amphitheatre at El Djem. The amphitheatre is in a better state than even the Colosseum in Rome. It could seat 30-35,000 spectators and in its underground rooms a good number of victims, be they gladiators, wild-beasts or condemned prisoners. After lunch moved on to the Holy City of Kairouan, the 4th Holy City of the Islamic World. We stayed in Hotel Kasbah which looks like a fortress on the outside and boasts a fantastic position in the heart of the old kasbah.
The amphitheatre at El Djem
Day 8 Saturday 4th November
We spend the morning visiting the school where students studied the koran, the Great Mosque, the holiest building in Tunisia and the water reservoirs called Aghlabid Basins. A chance to do some bartering in the souk before reaching our final destination Hammamet, Tunisia’s largest beach resort, where we stayed at Hotel Mediterranee right on the beach.
Islamic school in Kairouan
Day 9 Sunday 5th November
Return to Tunis…..Heathrow……and back to school.
R. W. T. Haynes