May 2025
Carthage was a city founded by the Phoenicians about 2,800 years ago. They were maritime traders based in modern day Lebanon & are believed to have developed the original alphabets that we use today.
The city thrived and was one of the population centers of the ancient world with a population of 100,000 to 250,000. They were more advanced than the Romans, but the Romans kept challenging them and finally overpowered them with military strength in the 3rd Punic War in 146 B.C.
Romans destroyed the city and rebuilt on top of the old city.
The Carthage Archeological Site is not small. At 793 acres, it’s almost as big as Central Park in New York City and more than twice the size of Hyde Park in London. As someone with only mild curiosity about ancient civilizations, it seemed rather daunting to explore this place on our own. After all, in my experience, a ruin is a ruin and they all look pretty much the same after the initial wonderment has faded. So we joined a walking tour.
We were lucky to find a wonderful, knowledgeable guide, Hayfa, on the freetour.com website. She had us meet her at the Bath of Antoninus entrance to the archeological park and we purchased our tickets – one ticket (about USD$ 4) covered all the locations within the park.
As far as ruins go, there were enough well preserved structures in the park to get the idea of what it might have looked like thousands of years ago.
I think she chose to begin the tour in this area because there are different types of structures to show an old community where people gathered to socialize – we had a glimpse into the lives of the people who lived there.
Next, we moved on to the Roman Villa area. We could tell the Romans lived well here.
And the last stop was at the Roman Theater. This place is rebuilt and is used as a concert venue at times. In fact, they were setting up the stage for a concert when we were there.
Tunisians are proud of their connection to Carthage as they should be. Having this site practically next door to their capital city serves as a constant reminder that recapturing an old glory is within reach, perhaps.
Tunisia itinerary link
Small Wide World 