The Mediterranean

b. The Old Town.

At the W. end of the Ave. de France (p. 333), the starting-point of several tramway-lines (see p. 330), is the Porte de France (p. 332), and beyond it lies the Place de la Bourse (Pl. D, 4), which presents a busy scene all day. In and near this square are most of the Consulates (British among others), as during the Turkish period. The old French Consulate (about 1650 to 1860), which served also as a warehouse (fondouk), is at No. 15 Rue de l’Ancienne-Douane.

To the W. from the Place de la Bourse run the two chief thoroughfares of the Medina. To the right is the Rue de la Kasba (Pl. D, C, 4, 5; p. 336), leading past the Jewish quarter (p. 337) and the Souk el-Grana (Pl. C, 4) to the upper boulevards (p. 336), to which it is the chief approach. To the left is the Rue de l’Eglise (Pl. D, C, 4, 5), leading direct to the Souks of the Medina, the main business street of the Christian merchants in the Turkish period.

We follow the Rue de l’Eglise. On the left is the small church of Ste. Croix (Pl. C, D, 4, 5; 1662), to which the street owes its name. Then, on the right, is the Administration des Habous, the headquarters of the Mohammedan pious foundations. Lastly we pass through a vaulted passage under the Direction des Antiquités.

The Rue de l’Eglise ends at the Rue de Djamâa ez-Zitouna, on the E. side of the chief mosque, the Djamâa ez-Zitouna (Pl. C, 5), which is said to trace its origin to the tomb of St. Oliva of Palermo, a Christian saint revered even by many Mohammedans. The mosque was founded in 732 by Obeïd Allah ibn el-Habbab, enlarged by the Aglabide Sijadet Allah I. (p. 374), and repeatedly altered under the Hafsides. When Tunis was plundered by the troops of Emp. Charles V. the mosque was used as a stable. Since then the edifice has been much modernized, and is lavishly adorned with spoils from Carthage. The chief portal, behind the colonnade in the Rue de Djamâa ez-Zitouna, where on Fridays the clergy receive the Sheikh ul-Islam, or supreme pontiff, and the side-portal in the Souk des Etoffes (p. 335) have each an ornamental ancient pillar as a lintel. The many-aisled interior, with its 161 columns and two domes over the nave, is similar in plan to the Sidi Okba Mosque at Kairwan (p. 374). The new minaret, 145 ft. high, erected in the Andalusian style by Si Slîmân Ennigro in 1894, is a free copy of the old tower. The pile of buildings is best surveyed from the roof of the Dâr el-Bey (p. 336).

The mosque serves also as a lecture-room for the Mohammedan University. The instruction is under the direction of the Sheikh ul-Islam; there are about a hundred teachers and 400 students. Admittance to the twenty-two medersas, or colleges, for students from other parts of the country, and to the library famed for 7000 Oriental MSS. is granted to none but Mohammedans.

The Zitouna Mosque lies in the region of the *Souks (Pl. C, 5; Arabic sûk, market), the market quarter of the Medina, dating from the Hafside period (13th cent.). As usual in the East the lanes are roofed over. The small narrow shops are shut in by a counter, over which the trader swings himself into his seat with the aid of a rope. Most trades have their own streets. It is interesting to watch the people at work in those souks where the wares are made on the spot. The larger bazaars in some of the streets are designed solely to attract foreigners. The busiest time is the early morning. Friday is the Mohammedan, and Saturday the Jewish day of rest. As to purchases, see p. 331. In and near the Souks are many small Arab coffee-houses and barbers’ shops.

From the Rue de Djamâa ez-Zitouna we turn to the right to visit the Souk el-Attârîn, the spice-market, founded in 1249. Besides the spices and perfumes sold here (such as essence of jasmine and rose-geranium, sometimes palmed off on strangers as attar of roses), we observe amber, dried henna-leaves, henna-powder (p. 108), and the big candles, often branched, which are used at weddings and for the tombs of saints.—The side-street to the right, opposite the N. side of the mosque, is the Souk el-Blagdjia, for leather-wares.

At the W. end of the spice-market, to the left, opposite the Rue Sidi Ben-Arous (see below), is the Souk des Etoffes, on the W. side of the mosque, with its display of silk and woollen stuffs, carpets from Kairwan, and rugs from the Djerid (p. 386) and from Djerba (p. 393).

Adjoining the Souk des Etoffes is the busy Souk des Femmes, the only one frequented by Mohammedan women, where female apparel, trinkets, and slippers of Saffian leather (p. 109) are sold.

Between these two souks the Souk el-Leffa (Pl. C, 5), off which, on the right, is the Souk el-Kebabdjia (lace), leads to the *Souk Sekajine, the saddle-market, where, among gorgeous caparisons embroidered in gold and silver, we are specially struck with the ornaments worn by horses at the fantasias (p. 99).

We return to the Souk el-Leffa. Thence, to the left, we follow the short Souk ed-Dziria, past the Hôpital Sadiki (Pl. B, C, 5), destined for natives, to the—

Rue Sidi Ben-Ziad, on the S. side of the Dâr el-Bey (p. 336). The small Sidi Youssef Mosque (‘Mosquée’; Pl. C, 5), belonging to the Hanefites (p. 445), with the handsome tomb of the founder and an octagonal minaret, dates from 1610–37.—At the lower end of the street, where the Souk el-Bey branches off to the left to the Place de la Kasba, we turn to the right into the—

Souk el-Berka, the slave-market, which was abolished only in 1842. Down to 1816 Christians captured by the pirates were sold here by auction. This is now the seat of the silversmiths, goldsmiths, and dealers in antiquities, mostly Jews. The best of their gold trinkets are from Paris; the fine silver filigree is Genoese or Maltese; the ancient coins are often spurious.

From the Souk el-Berka the Souk el-Trouk, the street of the tailors, almost all Jews, who make the rich costumes of the Moslems, leads back to the Souk el-Attârîn.

From the N.W. angle of the Zitouna Mosque the Rue Sidi Ben-Arous leads into the Rue de la Kasba (p. 334). At the junction of these streets, adjoining the burial-chapel of Mohammed Murad Bey (d. 1705), is the Hanefite Mosque of Sidi ben-Arous (Pl. C, 5), of 1654, similar in plan to that of Sidi Youssef (p. 335), with an elegant minaret.

The Rue de la Kasba ends at the Place de la Kasba (Pl. B, C, 5), with its charming grounds.

On the S. side of this square rises the Dâr el-Bey (Pl. B, C, 5), the largest pile of buildings in the Medina, erected in 1810 on the foundations of a Roman theatre(?) by Moroccan architects under Hamuda Bey as his town-palace. It is now the seat of the French secretary-general and other authorities. The Bey usually comes hither on Monday mornings from La Marsa (p. 351) for the transaction of business. Admittance, see p. 331. The entrance is by the portal where a sentry is posted.

The covered quadrangle (patio) on the first floor forms the centre of the palace. The fine timber ceiling in the dining-room is the only object of interest in the state apartments. The council-chamber of the ministers has a dome with remarkably fine stucco-work. Here, as in the Bardo and at Kassar-Saïd, the effect is marred by European gewgaws.

Fine *View from the flat roof over the white houses of the town, the Zitouna and many smaller mosques. Best light at and after noon.

To the W. of the Place de la Kasba, at the junction of the two upper boulevards Bab-Benat (Pl. B, 4; p. 337) and Bab-Menara (Pl. B, C, 5, 6), the old town culminates in the Kasba (Pl. B, 5), an extensive group of barracks on the site of the palace of the Hafsides and the Turkish citadel. The Kasba Mosque, with its fine minaret, well restored in 1904, dates from 1231–5.

Near the old Bab-Menara, where the Souk des Sacs diverges to the reservoir of the waterworks (p. 339), is the small Mosquée el-Ksar (Pl. C, 5), the oldest in Tunis, said to have been founded by Hassan ibn en-Nôman (p. 322). The handsome minaret (1545) is an addition of the Turkish period.

On the N. side of the mosque runs the Rue du Château. No. 3 is the Division d’Occupation (Pl. C, 5), the seat of the French commandant, formerly the *Dâr-Hussein (18th cent.; well restored in 1876), one of the finest Mauro-Turkish palaces in Tunis. (Adm. by special introduction only.)

The Rue des Andalous (Pl. C, 5), which begins here, and its side-street Rue du Riche are the aristocratic streets of the Medina. Many of the houses have elegant marble portals and artistically grated windows. Parallel, on the E., leading to the Avenue de Bab-Djedid, runs the long Rue Tourbet el-Bey, in which at No. 62, at the corner of the Rue Sidi-Zamouhl, rises the Tourbet el-Bey (Pl. C, 6), the domed tomb of the Husseinites (p. 323; ladies sometimes admitted).

The Rue Sidi Kassem, the next side-street on the left, leads to the Djamâa Djedid (‘new mosque’), or Mosquée des Teinturiers (Pl. C, 5, 6), founded by Hussein Ali ben-Turki (p. 323). The modern minaret is by Si Slîmân Ennigro (p. 334).

The open space near the dilapidated Bab Djedid (Pl. C, 6), dating from 1277, is an afternoon haunt of snake-charmers and story-tellers (5–10 c. to the boy soliciting money).

Between the Bab Djedid and the Place aux Chevaux (Pl. B, 6; p. 339) is the Market Quarter of Rebat Bab-Djazira (p. 332), containing the Souk el-Aâssar, the Souk des Armes, and the Marché-au-Blé.

From the Bab Djedid we return to the Place de la Kasba (p. 336; tramway No. 2, see p. 330).

In the Boulevard Bab-Benat, in an old Moslem cemetery on the right, is the Tekia (Pl. B, 4, 5), a home for the aged (1905). On the left, founded in 1876, is the Collège Sadiki (Pl. B, 4), a high school for Moslems. Farther on rises the handsome Palais de Justice (Pl. B, 4; 1901). These two buildings are in the neo-Moorish style.

We may now proceed direct to the Place Bab-Souika (see below; tramway No. 3, p. 330); but it is better to take the less direct route through the N.W. part of the Medina, by the Rue du Lutteur (diverging to the right from Boul. Bab-Benat, a little before the Palais de Justice), Rue du Pacha (Pl. B, 4), Rue de la Hafsia (Pl. B, C, 4), Rue Achour (Pl. C, B, 4, 3; with the Hanefite Mosque of Sidi Mohammed Bey on the left), Rue el-Monastiri, and Rue Sidi-Mahrez.

On the left, in the last-named street, rises the *Mosque of Sidi Mahrez (Pl. B, 3), with several domes in the Turkish style, built in the latter half of the 17th cent., resembling in the interior the Ahmed Mosque of Constantinople (p. 550). The square minaret was added early in the 19th century.—On the right is the school or Zaouïa Sidi Mahrez.

The picturesque Place Bab-Souika (Pl. B, C, 3) lies between the Medina and the poor Rebat Bab-Souika (p. 332). Executions took place here in the Turkish period. The Rue el-Halfaouine (‘alfa street’), partly vaulted over, and lined with butchers’ shops, leads hence to the lively and industrious—

Place el-Halfaouine (Pl. B, 2), with its numerous Arab cafés, where on Mohammedan festivals, such as Ramadan (p. 447) and Bairam, the evenings and nights are spent in mirth and frolic. On the W. side is the Djamâa Sahab et-Taba (Pl. B, 2), one of the largest mosques in Tunis, founded on blocks of stone from Carthage. The Souk el-Djedid on the N. side is for silk wares.

Time permitting, we may glance at the Rue des Potiers (Pl. C, 3), seat of the once noted pottery of Tunis, or at the Jewish Quarter (Hara; Pl. C, 3, 4), in the N.E. part of the Medina. The chief Synagogues (visitors admitted) are in the Impasse es-Snadli, at the corner of Rue Sidi-Mardoun, in Rue Zarkoun (Pl. C, D, 4), etc.

The interesting Old Jewish Cemetery (Pl. D, E, 3), just outside the old town, is entered from the Rue du Cimetière-Israélite.

c. Environs.

1. About 1¼ M. to the N. of Tunis lies the *Jardin du Belvédère, laid out in 1892, the most popular promenade in the environs, well shaded with palm-trees, but still unfinished. The grounds cover 250 acres on the slope of Belvedere Hill (269 ft.), which was fortified in the Turkish period. The chief entrance is at the Rond Point at the end of the Ave. de Paris (p. 333; tramway No. 7, p. 330), and there is a side-entrance (tramway No. 6) in the Ave. Carnot, near the Pépinière Municipale (nursery-ground) and the Cimetière Municipal (opened in 1883).

Halfway up, above the main entrance, rises the Pavillon du Belvédère (café; fine view from the terrace). On the S. slope of the hill, ¼ M. from the Avenue Carnot and concealed amid the thick vegetation, is the Mida, the ruin of a mosque-court brought from the souks of the Medina. Farther up is the *Pavillon de la Manouba, a freely restored Moorish garden-pavilion from the Palais de la Manouba (pp. 342, 343), with fine ornamentation in stucco and a charming view. The top of the hill affords a splendid *Panorama, especially towards evening. To the S. is the old town with the Kasba, the Manoubia Hill, and Fort Sidi Bel-Hassen; more to the right, beyond the Sebkha es-Sedjoumi, rise the distant hills of Zaghouan; to the E. lies Lake Bahira with the island of Chikly, the Ship Canal, and the little towns of Goletta and Rades, backed by the Gulf of Tunis and Cape Bon; then, more to the N.E., rise the hills of Carthage, with the cathedral and Sidi Bou-Saïd; a little to the left, in the plain, lie La Marsa and the Sebkha er-Riana; to the W. are seen the Bardo and the two aqueducts.

Adjoining the Institut Pasteur (1904), on the N. side of the Rond-Point, is the entrance to the Jardin d’Essais (adm., see p. 331), opened in 1892, with many tropical and subtropical plants. Connected with it is the Ecole Coloniale d’Agriculture, founded in 1898.

The tramway (No. 7) runs on through olive-groves to (3 M.) the village of El-Ariana, once famed for its Hafside palace of Abu Fehr, and now noteworthy for its beautiful roses. It is a favourite resort of the Jews of Tunis, especially on Saturday afternoons, when Jewish musicians and dancers perform at the cafés.

2. A less extensive but more picturesque *View than that from the Belvedere is obtained from the hill, to the W. of the old town, on which lie the decayed Turkish forts of Bordj Flifel and Bordj Rabta (193 ft.). The shortest way to the hill is by the Rue Bab el-Allouch (Pl. B, 3; see tramway No. 3, p. 330) and through the gate of that name. We then follow the Bardo road (comp. p. 339), straight on, between the garden of the Hôpital Civil (Pl. A, 3, 4), on the right, and the Ecole Professionnelle Loubet (Pl. A, 4), a technical school, on the left. About 6 min. from the gate we diverge to the right by a field-road, and we reach the top in 6 min. more. Near the forts are numerous dilapidated Silos (rabta), once the bey’s granaries.

TUNIS et ses environs

The Bardo is about 1 M. farther on, but we now return to the crossroads (see above) and follow another road to the S., leaving the village of Mélassine on the right, to the Bab Sidi Abdallah (Pl. A, 5). Close to this gate is the Château d’Eau or Reservoir (Pl. A, B, 5; visitors admitted) of the waterworks of Tunis, which was substituted in 1859–62 for the Roman aqueduct of Carthage (p. 348). It is supplied by the main conduit from Zaghouan (p. 359), 58½ M. long, by an auxiliary branch from the Aïn Djouggar (1276 ft.), 23 M. distant, and (since 1905) by a new branch, 50 M. long, from Djebel Bargou, which flows partly through a tunnel 4 M. in length.

3. The Manoubia Hill (240 ft.) may be reached in ¼ hr. by a road to the S. from the Bab Sidi Kassem (Pl. A, 6), a town-gate 3 min. to the S. of the reservoir. Or we may start from the Place aux Chevaux (Pl. B, 6; p. 337), whence, near the Collège Alaoui (seminary for teachers), we have a good view of the city and of Lake Bahira, and then follow the Rue Bab el-Gorjani (Pl. B, C, 7). The hill offers a fine view, especially in the morning, of the city, Lake Bahira, the hills of Carthage and Cape Bon; at our feet lies the Sebkha es-Sedjoumi; to the S. rise the hills of La Mohamédia and Oudna, backed by the jagged mountains of Zaghouan.

4. From the Bab Alleoua (Pl. E, 7; station of tramway No. 8, p. 330) diverge the roads to Rades (p. 363), Hammam-Lif (p. 363), and the Mornag (p. 358). We ascend across the Cimetière Sidi Bel-Hassen (Pl. E, 7), the largest Mohammedan cemetery of Tunis, now desecrated and therefore open to ‘unbelievers’, to the (12 min.) Zaouïa Sidi Bel-Hassen, where we enjoy a charming view of the city and Lake Bahira. The mosque, where many of the former beys’ wives are buried, stands on the site of a cavern which was for many years inhabited by the Moroccan saint Sidi Bel-Hassen ech-Chadly, the founder of the Chadlya brotherhood. The beautiful view from the top of the hill (240 ft.), a little apart from the small Fort Sidi Bel-Hassen, resembles that from the Manoubia Hill.

5. The Bardo, the former winter-residence of the beys, lies in the fertile plain to the W. of Tunis, 1¼ M. from Bab Bou-Saâdoun (Pl. A, 2), and 2 M. from Bab el-Allouch (Pl. A, B, 3, 4; see p. 338) or from Bab Sidi Abdallah (Pl. A, 5). Starting from the Porte de France, we may go by tramway No. 3 (p. 330; 5 c.) to Place Bab-Souika, and thence by tramway No. 5 (15 c.) to the Bardo. About halfway we cross the Aqueduc du Bardo, originally Roman, a branch of the Carthage aqueduct (p. 348), restored by Andalusian Moors in the 16th century.—Those who prefer to go by carriage should drive out past the Reservoir (see above), and return round the N. side of the old town, past the Feskia or Ancien Réservoir (Pl. A, 1, 2; for rain-water) and the Mohammedan Cimetière el-Bsili (Pl. B, C, 1, 2), to Bab el-Khadra (Pl. C, 2).

During the Turkish period the Bardo, like the Moroccan palaces of the present day, formed a little town by itself. It included several palaces of the beys and of the widows of deceased princes, a treasury, dwellings of the court officials, a mosque, baths, barracks, and a prison (zendala), and the whole group was enclosed by a massive rectangular wall. Most of the sadly ruined buildings have been utilized since 1900 as material for the new harbour-works. At the S. end the outer wall has disappeared. From the tramway station we enter the pretty grounds (1903) to the right. Immediately to the left is the way to the remains of the chief palace of the beys, and beyond it, on the left, to the Museum. Straight ahead rises the ruin of a domed building; beyond it are the mosque and the prison (now a reformatory for natives).

The Palace of the Beys, erected after 1782 by Hamuda Bey (p. 336), contains several objects of interest, apart from its tasteless European furniture and poor pictures. Adm., see p. 331.

We enter by a flight of steps, adorned with marble lions of mediocre Italian workmanship, and through a vestibule with delicate decoration in stucco. The anterior colonnaded court is adjoined on the right by the hall of justice, where the beys used to pronounce sentences of death which were immediately carried out close by; opposite to it is the reception-room. A passage to the left brings us to a second colonnaded court. A tasteful marble portal (Italian) leads thence into the Salle des Glaces, which has a fine ceiling and a valuable Kairwan carpet. We then mount the staircase to the First Floor, where the large festal hall is on the right.

The old Palace of the Harem, a creation of the extravagant bey Sidi Mohammed (1855–9), rivalling the Alcázar of Seville (p. 61) in its wealth of decoration, was carefully restored in 1885–1888 and converted into a national museum.

The *Musée du Bardo, or Musée Alaoui, named after Bey Ali Pasha (1882–1902), containing the rich yield of excavations in every part of Tunisia, is now the finest collection in Barbary. The Moorish and Turkish antiquities were arranged in 1900 in a pretty little adjoining palace under the name of Musée Arabe. Adm., see p. 331; catalogue (1897) 10 fr., supplement (1906–10) 27 fr.; director, M. Merlin.

Ground Floor. The Entrance Room contains Roman mosaics from Henchir Sidi Djedidi, etc.; family tombstone of the imperial slave Optatus, from the burial-ground of the Officiales (p. 348). Also, on the right, votive stones from the temples of Saturn at Aïn-Tounga and on Jebel Bou-Kornin (p. 363), Roman milestones from the Tebessa road, etc.; on the left, Roman tomb-cippi and inscriptions. Then two altars bearing regulations in favour of farmers on the imperial estates: D441. from Henchir-Mettich near Testour (time of Trajan), and D 442. from Aïn-Ouassel (time of Septimius Severus); C 1030. Statue of Concordia from Djorf Bou-Grara (p. 392). At the end of the room, a much damaged Roman sarcophagus with the Muses.—On the right is—

Room I (Pre-Roman Room). Along the walls are Punic and neo-Punic votive stones dedicated to Baal, Tanit (p. 356), and other deities; then tomb-stelæ, catapult-balls from an arsenal at Carthage, etc.—At the back-wall of the side-room is a stela from Maktar, nearly 7 ft. high, with a Libyan and neo-Punic inscription.—On the left of the Entrance Room is—

Room III (Early-Christian Room). In the centre, B 53. Font from El-Kantara (p. 394). Along the walls are mosaics from Tabarca and other places, and sarcophagi. In the show-case, lamps and vessels in clay from Oudna (5–6th cent.).—In the passage to R. IV, terracotta slabs with reliefs, once the mural decoration of churches.

Room IV (Bulla Regia Room), containing finds from Hammam-Darradji (p. 326): Roman sculptures of the time of Antoninus Pius (138–161), incl. C 1017. A Minerva Polias in the style of a Parthenos with the cornucopia of Bonus Eventus and a mural crown; *C 1018. Torso of Athena; C 1014. Æsculapius, after a Greek original of the 4th cent.; C 1013. Colossal statue of Apollo, after the school of Scopas; C 1015. Ceres; Roman inscriptions.—In the adjoining Room V, terracotta figures from the temples of Baal and Tanit at Bir Bou-Rekba.

On the Staircase, C 1033. Head of Hercules, Roman mosaics, etc.; on the upper landing, C 939. Statue of Apollo from the theatre at Carthage.

First Floor. Room VI, the old inner court (patio) of the palace. In the centre are two large Roman mosaics from Oudna (2nd cent. A. D.): A 103. Bacchus presenting the vine to the Attic king Icarius (A 104. Hare and fox hunt, in front); A 105. Representation of a country estate, with hunting scenes. Between the columns of the portico are Roman statues in marble from Carthage (C 944. Ganymede; C 979. Bacchus; C 924. Juno; C 982. Isis; and others). Along the walls are marble busts and heads, most of them from Carthage.—Adjoining this room on the N. is—

Room VII, formerly the banqueting-room, with superb *Dome carved in wood. In the centre, A 1 Mosaic pavement, about 150 sq. yds., from a Roman villa near Susa (‘Cortège de Neptune’). By the end-walls, A 25–27. Three semicircular mosaics from Tabarca (beginning of the 4th cent. A.D.) representing a country seat with park, stable, granary, sheds, and cellar. By the left side-wall are two Roman mosaics (A 7. Fishing; A 12. Head of Oceanus); A 19. Early-Christian relief with circus-scenes; old Christian *Sarcophagus Mosaics from Tabarca, mostly representing the deceased in the attitude of prayer, between two candles. The wall-presses contain Punic, Rhodian, Roman, and early-Christian lamps. By the back-wall are Roman pottery, and implements in bronze, ivory, and bone. Also a fine bust of Athena from Carthage.—Next comes—

Room VIII. In the centre, bronze armour of Campanian origin (end of 3rd cent. B.C.), found in a Punic tomb at Ksour-Essaf (p. 370): *E 3. A silver-gilt patera (sacrificial bowl) from Bizerta, weighing nearly 24 lbs., with reliefs (contest of Apollo and Marsyas, sacrifice to Dionysus, Bacchic scene).—In the side-cases are gold trinkets and cut gems, mostly from Carthage. In the window-cases are Mauretanian, Roman, and Byzantine coins. Along the walls are Roman mosaics from Dougga and from *Chebba (A 292. Neptune and the Four Seasons; A 293. Orpheus among the animals); C 1115. The Graces and the Four Seasons (front of a fine marble sarcophagus).

Room IX. In the centre, A 287. The Procession of Bacchus, a large mosaic from El-Djem. Along the walls are Roman mosaics from El-Djem (A 288. Hare-hunt; A 289. Nine Muses; etc.), from Thina (Thænæ), from Susa (A 6. Boat with quaint representation of the water), and from Djorf Bou-Grara (A 301, A 301 bis. Wrestlers). In the corners, C 1026. Torso of a draped woman, perhaps a Victoria, in black marble; C 72. Head of Augustus; C 1027. Head of Hercules (all from El-Djem). In the press on the left, three leaden urns and six admirably preserved glass cinerary urns from the burial-ground of the Officiales at Carthage (p. 348). In the press on the right, bronze utensils. In the wall-cases, leaden and bronze objects from Carthage and Hammam Darradji; also so-called ‘tabellæ defixionum’, rolls of lead with curses directed against enemies in the circus (found in tombs at Susa). Detached, C 16. Torso of a Bacchante from El-Djem.—We return to R. VI and thence, to the left, enter—

Room XI, formerly the concert-room, containing Roman mosaics. In the centre, A 166. Mosaic pavement from Medeïna, showing the different kinds of Roman trading vessels; also the heads of a river-god and of Oceanus. By the entrance-wall, A 171. Temple (containing statues of Apollo and Diana, and hunting scenes) from Carthage. By the wall opposite, A 162. A seriously damaged representation of a banquet (4th cent. A.D.) from Carthage.—The opposite—

Room XII was formerly the dining-room. The presses contain relics from Punic tombs (some of them imported, Egyptian, Greek, and Etruscan). In the two central cases, terracotta-masks (to avert evil spirits), which also were among the objects buried with the dead.—A door on the same (W.) side of R. VI as that to R. XII gives access to three rooms (XIV-XVI) containing objects discovered at the bottom of the sea near Mehdia (see p. 370) in 1907–10.

Room XIV. A bronze *Hermes of Dionysus, in an archaic style, by Boëthus of Chalcedon (according to the inscription; 2nd cent. B.C.). On a shelf are remains of a large bronze capital with two female heads. In the glass-cases are two bronze lamps with the figure of a runner; numerous bronze statuettes, among others an Eros playing a lyre, two female dancers, a buffoon, Satyr, and actors; bronze utensils.

Room XV. In the centre, a bronze *Statue of a winged Eros (4½ ft. high). Along the walls, a leaden anchor; terracotta amphoræ, bars of lead with stamps in Latin, flour-mills; in the glass-case, a terracotta lamp with its wick still preserved.

Room XVI (marble objects). Large mixing bowls (‘crateræ’), adorned with Bacchic subjects; candelabra in the neo-Attic style; capitals; Greek inscriptions; busts and heads, among which should be noted, in the middle, a well-preserved Aphrodite; torsos and statuettes.

We return to R. VI and descend five steps into—

Room XIII, an octagonal *Domed Chamber (formerly the bey’s bedroom), with four side-rooms richly adorned with stucco and tiles (once occupied by his four favourite wives). In the centre, A 10. Roman mosaic from Bir-Chana, with the gods of the seven days of the week and the signs of the zodiac. In the right wing, *A 266. Roman mosaic from Susa, Virgil writing the Æneid. In the wing opposite the entrance, C 4. Torso of a Satyr pouring out wine (after Praxiteles). In the left wing, *C 969. Ceres, from Carthage, with traces of painting; also C 970, C 971. Two draped female statues.—In the corner-room on the right, without number, Large alabaster vase from Carthage with haut-relief (head of Bacchus with vine-wreath).—In the corner-room on the left are terracotta figurines from Susa.

In the Gallery of R. VI (p. 341) are a relief-map of Carthage, models of buildings in Carthage, Dougga, Le Kef, Oudna, Sbeïtla, and Djorf Bou-Grara; also photographs of Tunisian monuments.

From the staircase (p. 341) we enter the Musée Arabe. In Room I, tastefully decorated in stucco, are mural tiles from Tunis, Nabeul (p. 365), and Morocco, and knotted carpets from Kairwan. The side-rooms contain metal-work, enamelled vessels, wood-carving, weapons, etc.

In the Court (patio) are mural tiles; in the small side-rooms on the left, costumed figures, national garbs, and models in stucco.

In Room II, furniture (incl. a sumptuous bed) and embroidery (incl. haïtis, velvet hangings with gold and silver embroidery). In the side-rooms are Tunisian (from Djerba and Moknine) and Algerian trinkets; also beautiful Kairwan carpets.

Behind the Bardo is Kassar-Saïd, a château of the bey (no admittance). Here, in 1881, was concluded the Bardo Treaty, which ended the independence of Tunisia.

The highroad goes on, past the Hippodrome of Kassar-Saïd (races in spring), to (2½ M.) La Manouba (rail. station, see p. 329; tramway No. 5, see p. 330), a group of decayed Moorish country-houses with fine orange-gardens. The Palais de la Manouba (now cavalry-barracks) was once the country-seat of Hamuda Bey (p. 336). The kubba of Lalla Manouba attracts many pilgrims.

CARTHAGE

From Tunis to Dougga, see R. 55; to Zaghouan, Le Kef, and Kalaâ-Djerda, see R. 56; to Rades, Hammam Lif, and Susa, see R. 57; to Bizerta, see R. 54; to Malta, see R. 63; to Tripoli (Syracuse), see R. 64.

53. Carthage.

An Electric Tramway starts from Tunis Terminus, Ave. Jules-Ferry (Pl. E, 4), near the Casino, for Carthage and (¾ hr.) Marsa-Plage. The chief stations on this line are La Goulette, for the little town of Goletta; Carthage, for the castle-hill (St. Louis de Carthage), for the plateau of the Odéon, and for the cisterns at the Bordj el-Djedid; Ste. Monique, for Damous el-Karita; and Sidi Bou-Saïd, for the lighthouse. The terminus, Marsa-Plage, close to the shore, is connected by a branch-line (½ M.) with Marsa-Ville, which is the terminus of another electric tramway running from the Ave. de Paris (Pl. E, 3) at Tunis viâ El-Aouina.—Uniform fares from Tunis to Goletta, Carthage, Marsa-Plage, or Marsa-Ville single 1 fr. 20 or 65 c., return 1 fr. 75 c. or 1 fr.

A Drive (carr. 15 fr.) from Tunis to Sidi-Daoud, La Malga (amphitheatre and cisterns), La Marsa, Sidi Bou-Saïd, Carthage (cisterns at Bordj el-Djedid, theatre, and museum), Goletta, Maxula-Rades (p. 363), and back to Tunis is recommended. Luncheon (brought from Tunis) may be taken beside the lighthouse at Sidi Bou-Saïd or at Carthage. Good carriages are to be had also at Goletta and the stations of Carthage and Marsa-Ville (2 fr. per hr.; but the fare should be fixed beforehand).—In cool weather, especially in the forenoon, the Walk from La Marsa viâ Sidi Bou-Saïd to Carthage is very enjoyable.

Hotels at Carthage: Hôt. St. Louis de Carthage, on the castle-hill, tolerable, déj. or D. 3–3½ fr., wine dear; Pavillon Beau-Séjour, R. 3, B. 1¼, déj. 2½, D. 3 fr.; Hôt. des Citernes Romaines, near the cisterns of Bordj el-Djedid (p. 350), plain but good.

For a short visit to the ruins the following description will suffice. For further study the traveller is referred to the Carte archéologique et topographique des Ruines de Carthage (Paris, 1907; three sheets, scale 1 : 5000) and to ‘Carthage autrefois, Carthage aujourd’hui’ (2½ fr.; to be had at the Musée Lavigerie), a full description, but partly out of date. Comp. also the chapters on Carthage in Cagnat’s book mentioned at p. 289.—The guides and beggars are very importunate. Native vendors offer spurious antiquities (cameos, coins, etc.), ‘just dug up’. It should be noted that the ruins abound in awkward cavities and fissures, and that, in summer especially, scorpions lurk under the loose stones.

The Electric Tramway (see above) to Carthage and Marsa-Plage runs to the Harbour (p. 333), crosses its N. entrance by an embankment, and follows the N. bank of the ship-canal across Lake Bahira (comp. p. 129), skirting the passing-place of the steamers. On the left is the islet of Chikly (p. 129).

6¼ M. Arrêt du Bac, station for the Goletta steam-ferry mentioned at p. 363.—7 M. La Goulette, on the W. side of the little town of—

Goletta, or La Goulette (Hôt. de la Gare, unpretending; pop. 5000, chiefly Sicilian and Maltese fisher-folk), the former little harbour of Tunis, deserted since the opening of the ship-canal. It was strongly fortified by Kheireddin (p. 221) in 1534 and transformed into a great naval station, but was soon captured by the Spaniards and formed the base whence they kept Tunis in check (1535–74).

On the island between the ship-canal and the two narrow inlets to the harbour are the Dâr el-Bey, an old palace of the beys, and the disused Marine Arsenal founded by Ahmed Bey (1837–55). On the shore, beyond the old harbour-mouth, which is only 6½ ft. deep, rises the Kasba, now barracks.

From Goletta to Maxula-Rades, see p. 363.

Between old Goletta and the ancient harbour of Carthage stretches a tongue of land, the ancient Taenia or Ligula, between Lake Bahira and the open sea, where bathing-places abound: 7¼ M. La Goulette Neuve, with a long row of humble lodging-houses, chiefly patronized by the poorer Jewish families from Tunis; 8 M. Khéreddine, where the old palace of Khéreddine, once the all-powerful minister of Bey Mohammed es-Saddok (1859–82), is now a casino; 9 M. Le Kram, another favourite Jewish resort, on the small Baie du Kram.

The next station is (9¾ M.) Salambo, a new colony of villas named after Flaubert’s novel; near it is the ‘Lazaret‘, an old palace of the beys’ harem, on the shore, between the two ancient harbours of Carthage (p. 345), used as a cholera hospital in 1884 (now barracks). 10 M. Douar ech-Chott, on the E. side of this picturesque native village (comp. p. 345).

10¼ M. Dermèche, station for El-Kheraïb (‘the ruins’), supposed to have been once the market-place of Carthage (p. 345), on the S. side of the Kothon, and also for the Palais de Dermèche, once the palace of the minister Mustapha ben-Ismaïl, and now the property of the bey.

10½ M. Carthage (hotels, see p. 343), station for the road to the castle-hill and abbey-hill of Carthage (pp. 346, 349). 11¼ M. Ste. Monique, between the convent of that name on the right and Damous el-Karita (p. 349) on the left.

Passing Briqueterie, we ascend to (13 M.) Sidi Bou-Saïd (p. 351).

13¾ M. Arrêt de l’Archevêché, for the archiepiscopal palace; Arrêt de la Corniche, the last halt. We then descend to the N.W. to (14½ M.) La Marsa-Plage (p. 351).


Carthage, once the proud queen of the seas, lay 10 M. to the E. of Tunis on a low range of hills culminating in Cape Carthage (p. 351). The cape was originally an island, but was probably united with the mainland by the deposits of the Medjerda before the foundation of the city (comp. p. 129). The neck of land between Lake Bahira on the S. and the Sebkha er-Riana on the N., where the army of Regulus was annihilated in 255 and where Scipio encamped in 146, was, according to Polybius, only 3000 paces (ca. 1½ M.) wide, but is now 3 M. at the narrowest part. In the middle ages Douar ech-Chott (p. 344; ‘village on the salt-lake’) lay on Lake Bahira. Carthage possessed two harbours. The outer or commercial harbour lay between the Baie du Kram (p. 344) and Bordj el-Djedid (p. 350), where considerable remains of its quays are preserved for a distance of nearly a mile. The inner or naval harbour (Kothon) was an artificial inland basin, probably on the same site as the two modern lagoons, with a rectangular entrance-basin and a circular main harbour. On an islet in the latter lay the naval arsenal.

Between the two harbours ran the triple town-wall, which on one side extended from the Bordj el-Djedid to the plateau between the Odeon and Damous el-Karita (p. 349), and on the other side enclosed the castle-hill (see below) on the S. and W. sides. The market-place (p. 344), on the N. side of the naval harbour, was connected with the castle-hill by three narrow streets, the chief scene of contest during the storming by Scipio. To the N.W. of the city-wall, as early as the Punic period, lay the villa-suburb of Megara or Magalia (now La Malga).

History. Carthage was founded about 880 B. C. by Phœnicians from Tyre, under the leadership, according to tradition, of Dido, adjacent to Kambe, a colony from Sidon. Under the name of Kart-hadasht (‘new town’) it extended gradually from the dale on the N.E. side of the Bordj el-Djedid up to the castle-hill. Thanks to its most advantageous site near the Sicilian straits and on the sea-route between Egypt and Spain, and to its proximity to the valleys of the Medjerda and the Oued Miliane (p. 363), the richest in the land, it soon surpassed Utica (p. 353) and the smaller Phœnician seaports in wealth and power. From the 6th cent. onwards Carthaginian fleets contended with the Greeks and with the Etruscans, from whom they wrested Corsica and Sardinia, for the mastery of the W. Mediterranean, and in 480 their army of mercenaries, in alliance with Xerxes, even attacked the Greeks of Sicily. After a great struggle of more than two centuries for the possession of Sicily, during which Agathocles (p. 163) carried the war into his enemies’ country (310–307), the intervention of Rome led to the three Punic wars (264–241, 218–201, and 149–146), to the occupation of Spain by the Carthaginians, and to the capture and destruction of Carthage, after a heroic resistance, by Scipio in 146 B. C. On its ruins, in 122, C. Gracchus attempted to found a Roman colony, but it was not till the year 44 that the far-seeing policy of Cæsar led to the firm establishment of the Colonia Julia Carthago. The despatch by Augustus of a colony of veterans and the erection of the city into the capital of the province in place of Utica (29 B. C.) paved the way for the renewed glory of Carthage, which soon became the greatest Mediterranean seaport next to Alexandria and the third-greatest city in the Roman empire. Far and wide its schools of rhetoric and philosophy were famous. Passionate champions of Christianity, like Tertullian (160 to about 245), founder of the sect called after him, and Cyprian (d. 258), who protested against the claim of Rome to precedence in the church, were residents in Carthage, the chief bishopric in N. Africa. In numerous councils (from 393 onwards) the dogmas of the Catholic church were here discussed and settled, and at the synod of the Gargilian Thermæ in 411 St. Augustine with fiery eloquence combated the doctrines of the Donatists (p. 322) and the Tertullianists.

Genseric (p. 322) converted the old palace of the proconsuls into his royal residence and made Carthage the capital of the Vandal empire, and a little later the city became the residence of the Byzantine governors. After Hassan ibn en-Nôman (p. 322) had destroyed the city in 698, almost as completely as Scipio had done, and after he had even caused the harbours to be filled up, the ruins were used for centuries as a quarry for the building of Kairwan (p. 372), Tunis, Goletta, and the small towns around, while many of the Roman and Byzantine columns were carried off by the Moors to Cordova and by the Italians to Palermo, Amalfi, Pisa, and Genoa. The attempts of the Hafsides (p. 323) to resuscitate Carthage met with little success. To that dynasty belonged El-Mostanser-Billah, against whom Louis IX., the Saint, directed his last crusade. It was on the castle-hill of Carthage that Louis died of the plague in 1270, and it was from Carthage that Emp. Charles V. led his expedition against Tunis in 1535. Modern builders have again been busy, at the cost of the ancient ruins, since the time of Card. Lavigerie (1825–92), who made the Missions d’Afrique (see below) the centre of the catholic missions in N. Africa and succeeded in 1884 in obtaining the restoration of the old archbishopric.

After all this endless havoc, and owing to constant alterations in the earth’s surface, it is now very difficult to trace the plan either of the Punic or of the Roman Carthage, which seems to have been laid out in chessboard fashion. Yet the beauty of the scenery and the wealth of historical memories amply compensates for the deplorable state of the ruins. The valuable yield of recent excavations is now preserved in the Musée Lavigerie (see below), in the Bardo Museum (p. 340), and in the Louvre.

The Byrsa (194 ft.), the ancient castle-hill of Carthage, 660 yds. from the sea, was the site in the Punic period of a temple of Eshmun, and in the Roman period of a temple of Æsculapius and of the palace of the proconsul. It is now called the Colline de St. Louis de Carthage and is occupied by the chapel of St. Louis, the seminary, and the archiepiscopal cathedral. The terrace on the side next the sea, adjoining the Hôtel St. Louis de Carthage (p. 343), commands a delightful *View of the gulf of Tunis and the site of ancient Carthage.

The Grand Séminaire de Carthage, founded in 1875 by Card. Lavigerie as a mission-house and seminary for the Pères Missionnaires d’Afrique (commonly called Pères Blancs from their white semi-Arab garb), contains the *Musée Lavigerie, dating from 1875, where the yield of the excavations made by Père Delattre, the learned principal of the seminary, is preserved. Adm. on Mon., Thurs., Frid., and Sat., 2 to 5.30; on Sun. and holidays 2–3 and 4 to 5.30; probably also before 11, and on other afternoons, on application (closed in Holy Week after Wed.). Visitors make a donation to the offertory-box. No catalogue.

In the Seminary Garden, below the small Chapelle de St. Louis, built in 1845 to the memory of King Louis the Saint (see above), are preserved eight barrel-vaults, with semicircular niches, relics of some ancient edifice of unknown character. On the terrace in front of the chapel is a large Roman sarcophagus in marble. Around it are placed numerous Punic cinerary urns. In the grounds lie fragments of ancient buildings. Along the garden-walls are ranged Roman mosaics, inscriptions, and fragments of sculpture.

The Colonnade of the seminary is adorned with three colossal figures of Victory in high-relief, of the time of the proconsul Q. Aurelius Symmachus (373–5), one of the last champions of expiring paganism.—The Vestibule contains two sadly mutilated early-Christian reliefs, the Annunciation to the Shepherds and the Adoration of the Magi, from Damous el-Karita (p. 349).—To the left, in the Salle de la Croisade, are Punic, Roman, and early-Christian inscriptions.—On the right is the—

Punic Room, containing the most valuable collection, almost exclusively from Punic rock-tombs (8th–2nd cent. B.C.), unrivalled except in the museum of Iviza. In the 1st Case in the middle of the room are Egyptian scarabs and amulets, trinkets (some Egyptian), and weights. 2nd Case: lamps and vases in clay, gold trinkets, beautiful Greek ivory carving (swan bearing a goddess), an Etruscan inscription (the only one yet found in Africa), Egyptian signet-rings, etc. 3rd Case: necklaces composed of amulets, glass amulets with faces of iridescent glass, gold signet-rings with engraved figures, fragments of painted ostrich-eggs, toilet articles in lead, Cupid in terracotta resembling the Tanagra figurines, a Greek work. 4th Case: bronze mirrors and ‘little axes’ or razors, probably amulets.—In the wall-presses, on the left of the entrance, Punic vases and terracotta masks, iron and bronze weapons. By the left side-wall are statuettes in clay in the Egyptian and Cyprian style, Corinthian and Attic vases, an Etruscan vase (toilet scene), two bronze jugs with fine figures as handles. By the back-wall are terracottas.—At the end of the right side-wall, in the window-niche, cinerary urn of the priest Baalchelek, also that of another priest with a beautiful relief of the deceased. By the last window but one, on the right side, are five cinerary urns; in front of them stands a sarcophagus with two skeletons. Then, at the end of the room, are four anthropoid *Sarcophagi in the Greek style (end of 4th cent. B.C.); two bearded priests in the attitude of prayer (one of them a cast); a priestess, with remarkably well-preserved painting, holding a dove and a situla.

Lastly we enter the Roman-Christian Room from the garden. By the end-wall on the left are early-Christian mosaics and lamps. By the back-wall, Roman mosaics (incl. Autumn and Winter); marble sculptures (Ceres, bust of Apollo, etc.). By the right end-wall are Roman terracottas, *Lamps with figure-compositions, and three reliefs in stucco from the tomb of a lady of rank. By the entrance-wall, Roman and Byzantine weights.—The 1st Case in the middle of the room contains early-Christian relics from the abbey-hill (p. 349), mostly of the Vandal period. 2nd Case: a bronze lamp and the clay statuette of an organ-player (upper part broken off). 3rd Case: Roman bronzes and glasses; rolls of lead inscribed with curses, from the burial-ground of the Officiales (p. 348); Byzantine and mediæval coins. 4th Case: coins of the Phœnician down to the Byzantine periods.

The Cathedral (Primatiale de St. Cyprien et de St. Louis), a basilica with nave and two aisles, built in 1884–90 by Abbé Pougnet, in the Byzantine-Moorish style, contains (in the choir) the archiepiscopal throne and the tomb of Card. Lavigerie (p. 346). Over the high-altar is the valuable reliquary of St. Louis, executed by Armand Caillat, a goldsmith of Lyons. Adm. from 5 to 11.15 and 12.30 to 5.30 (in summer 6.45).

The limestone blocks on the S.W. side of the cathedral, near the small eucalyptus grove, are remains of the stylobate of a Roman Temple. From the brow of the hill we obtain a good survey of the site of the ancient naval harbour (p. 345) and of the Roman circus (see below). The view of Lake Bahira is charming at sunset.

Between the brow of the hill and the road descending to Douar ech-Chott (p. 344) Père Delattre’s excavations have brought to light a number of buildings a thousand years apart in date. Above, on the margin of the hill, is an interesting Punic Necropolis with rock-tombs; lower down are remains of the Town Walls, hastily restored under Theodosius II. (p. 541) in 424, and traces of the Roman Road leading to the harbour; then Punic tombs again, and below them the foundations of a Byzantine Dwelling House (a room here contains early-Moorish tombs).

Below the S. angle of the castle-hill we come upon ancient fortifications. Farther down is a wall or buttress composed of thousands of early-Roman earthenware amphoræ; also a rock-hewn Chapel (key at the Seminary) with remains of wall-paintings (saint bestowing a blessing) in the style of the catacomb frescoes.

Time permitting, we follow the Sidi-Daoud road to the N.W. from the castle-hill, cross the Goletta and La Marsa highroad, and reach (¼ hr.) the Roman Amphitheatre, which has been broken up only since the 16th cent., and which Edrisi, the geographer (1154), has described as one of almost matchless splendour. All that is left of it consists of a few remains of substructures deeply imbedded in rubbish, several underground passages, and in the centre of the arena (where a chapel with a cross recalls the martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas, p. 350) three underground chambers, probably for the machinery used in theatrical performances.

To the S., not far from Douar ech-Chott (p. 344), are a few vestiges of the Roman Circus. It measured 770 by 110 yds.; the Spina, or partition round which the racing chariots passed, was 380 yds. long.

Scarcely a hundred paces to the N.W. of the amphitheatre, near a farm-building, is a Burial Ground of the Officiales (1st–2nd cent.), the imperial freedmen and slaves employed in the proconsul’s office (tabularium).—Beyond the amphitheatre the road passes a second Burial Ground of the same kind on the right and the foundations of the Villa of Scorpianus (identified by the inscription ‘Scorpianus in adamatu’) on the left.

To the W. of the highroad, 12 min. from the castle-hill, lies the dirty village of La Malga (82 ft.), which swarms with begging children. On the N.E. side of the village are scanty ruins of Roman Thermae. The Cisterns in the middle of the village, 15 (originally 24) barrel-vaults now in a very ruinous condition and partly used by the natives as dwellings or stables, once formed the chief reservoir fed by the Roman Aqueduct (pp. 329, 353, 358), begun under Hadrian in 117, but not completed till 163. The whole city was supplied thence by means of leaden pipes.

A Roman Road leads almost in a straight line from La Malga, to the N.E., close past Damous el-Karita (p. 349) and past the Basilica Maiorum (p. 350), to the Arrêt de la Briqueterie (p. 344).

From La Malga we follow the road to the S.E., past the Croix de St. Cyprien, a memorial of the famous bishop (pp. 345, 346), along the course of the old ‘Conduit Souterrain’, to the Abbey Hill (171 ft.), often groundlessly called Colline de Junon, rising to the N.E. of the castle-hill. Here are situated the Monastère du Carmel, a Carmelite nunnery, and the Petit Séminaire, the original mission-house of the White Fathers, now an orphanage presided over by the Sœurs Missionnaires d’Afrique, a sisterhood also instituted by Card. Lavigerie. On the roadside, between these buildings, remains of Roman Houses and Cisterns have been excavated.

On the slope of the Odeon Plateau (181 ft.), the N.E. continuation of the abbey-hill, near the bridge of the electric tramway, and 3 min. to the left of the upper Carthage and Sidi Bou-Saïd road (p. 350), are relics of the Roman Theatre, including several rows of the seats of the cavea (p. 293) and parts of the stage-building. After the partial restoration of the theatre a grand performance took place here in 1908 and similar representations will be occasionally repeated.—A few paces to the S.W. of the stage we come to the foundations of a small Roman Temple Circulaire. To the N.E. of the theatre, on the S.E. slope of the plateau, are the more considerable remains of Roman Houses, but these have recently been threatened with demolition.

On the plateau itself, about a hundred paces above the theatre, in the midst of a Punic Necropolis (3rd cent. B.C.), are relics of pavement and several underground passages marking the site of the Odeon, a roofed theatre (theatrum tectum) for concerts, built under the proconsul Vigellius Saturninus (about 212 A.D.). Both the theatre and the odeon are said to have been destroyed by the Vandals in 439.

Outside the old town-wall (p. 345), about 135 yds. to the N. of the Odeon, and 3 min. to the W. of station Ste. Monique (p. 344), lies an extensive early-Christian cemetery, in the centre of which lie the ruins of Damous el-Karita (domus caritatis?), a great basilica. This church, 71 by 49 yds., was built at different periods. The oldest basilica with its ten aisles (4th cent.) was orientated to the S.E., and the second, with eight aisles, probably of the Vandal period, was turned towards the S.W. A third building, again with ten aisles, evidenced by its reduced size the decline of Carthage in the Byzantine period, as it consisted only of the old transept converted into a nave and of the four N.W. aisles of the second basilica. Within the oldest nave, in the axis of the first choir-recess, a new apse was erected. The -shaped building thus resulting, with its very short and many-aisled body, seems to have been the model on which Hassan ibn en-Nôman built the Kairwan mosque, as well as the source of much of its material (comp. pp. 374, 376).

Adjoining the basilica on the N.E. is a vast semicircular Atrium (see p. 316), belonging to one of the two earlier churches, with remains of the fountain of purification and of a trefoil-shaped memorial-chapel (comp. p. 317) built into the colonnade. On the S.W. side of the basilica lie the foundations of a Baptistery with an octagonal font.

On the outskirts of a small olive-grove, reached either across the fields from Damous el-Karita (in 8 min.) or to the W. from the Arrêt de la Briqueterie (2 min.; p. 344), is the Basilica Maiorum, excavated in 1907. In the Vandal period this was the church of the Arian bishop. In the Confessio (10½ by 10¼ ft.), according to an inscription, the martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas (d. 203; see also below and p. 348) were buried. In the contiguous early-Christian cemetery bishops’ tombs and a cistern have been discovered.

We conclude our visit with a glance at the ruins in the Plain by the sea.

On the slope of the Odeon plateau, between the two roads to Sidi Bou-Saïd, extends a large Punic Necropolis (Nécropole de Douïmès), containing many rock-tombs of the 7–5th centuries. Near it are remains of Punic Pottery Kilns and the foundations of the Basilica of Dermèche, a Byzantine church with double aisles and traces of a baptistery with its octagonal font. A few paces to the N. we come to a Roman Cistern, 85 ft. deep, and vestiges of an Early Christian Monastery (St. Stephen’s?).

Close by are the *Cisterns of Bordj el-Djedid, on a side-branch of the lower road, the largest in the ancient city after those of La Malga, whence they were supplied. They were restored in 1887 and utilized for the new waterworks of Tunis (p. 339). The building, once dreaded by the natives as the ‘devil’s cavern’ (Douames ech-Chiatinn), forms a rectangle of 147 by 44 yds., with seventeen parallel barrel-vaults of 33 by 8 yds., two filtering basins, and broad side-passages (keeper ½ fr.).

Close to the sea, a little to the S.E., perhaps on the site of the harbour of Kambe (p. 345), lie the shapeless ruins of the Thermes d’Antonin, or Baths of Dermèche, re-erected under Antoninus Pius about 145, once perhaps the largest at Carthage.

Between the baths and the ruinous Turkish fort Bordj el-Djedid (49 ft.) lie the foundations of the superb Roman Stairs (Escalier Monumental) which once ascended from the quay to the Platea Nova, one of the largest squares in Roman Carthage. Their marble blocks were used in the building of the cathedral in 1884.

An underground Roman building, with a flight of twenty-five steps, to the N.E. of the Bordj el-Djedid, formerly called Fanum Cereris, but now termed Carcer Castrensis, is said to have been the prison of the martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas (see above).—Near it is a Roman Tower resembling a bastion, half in the sea.

On the new road from Bordj el-Djedid to station Ste. Monique (p. 344) is the ‘Kubba Bent el-Re‘, a number of underground chambers of unknown object, formerly called ‘Baths of Dido’.

A picturesque rock-path skirting the abrupt coast, besides the two roads named on p. 350, leads from Carthage to Sidi Bou-Saïd, about 2¼ M. from the Byrsa. This wealthy and highly picturesque village, almost entirely Mohammedan, with the bey’s summer residence, a fine beach for bathing, and the shrine of the local saint (much frequented on Fridays), lies at the E. end of Cape Carthage or Cartagena (423 ft.; Arabic Râs Sluguia), which has kept its Punic name throughout the ages. From the entrance to the village (station and cab-stand) we ascend straight to a small square with several Arab cafés, then by a path in steps to the left, again to the left, and lastly to the right, to the round lighthouse (Phare; ½–1 fr.). From the top we enjoy an exquisite *View, which is finest by morning light, of the site of Carthage, the whole of the bay stretching to Cape Farina (p. 129), and Lake Bahira with its mountain background.