ARCHAEOLOGICAL PLACE

Compared to the other archaeological sites in Cyrenaica, the remains of Taucheira are a little pale, but the guide to the places for 12 years, Abdel Abdel Mohamed el-Arfy, in his long robes, will be able to prove to you the opposite with touching enthusiasm. Even the beautiful yellow flowers that litter the site as early as April are only found in it. There are only the foundations of different public or private buildings. On the other hand, the site of the site, which dates from the Byzantine era, is one of the best preserved in the region. For its construction, stones were used from older buildings. The wall draws a square of 600 m side, closed to the north by the shoreline where the submerged port of Taucheira sleeps.

Past the entrance of the site, following the path, you reach the Oriental Byzantine Basilica with its apse and a drawn column. After returning 100 m to the south, we come to the large paving of mosaics of the Byzantine Palace. The room ends in apse, as in a basilica. It is not clear what the function of the building was, but some archaeologists think it was a church. The mosaic includes Greek inscriptions which say «Peace is your entry, great @ priest». The Byzantine Christians addressed Jesus, thus indicating that this building was perhaps a Byzantine church. In more remote times it is possible that this building could have served as a tank, which would contradict the idea that the city had to supply its water only to its oasis: Taucheira is the only Greek city of Cyrenaica where no trace of water is found.

We will continue south to reach the Decumanus, one of the two main tracks of Roman cities with the Cardo, which lies outside the Byzantine enclosure and the field of excavations. The Decumanus vers towards the exit: then the mass wall of the Hellenistic gymnasium engraved with Greek names, those of gymnasts, crosses. Some of its massive stones have been re-used in the Byzantine wall wall. Over the centuries, building stones were reused, for example the case of some stones on the eastern basilica. After the wall of the gymnasium, you get to the eastern door of dotted shape.

If you have time, you can head among the brush towards the sea to contemplate the sea and see the remains of a progress of the submerged ancient port.