BYRSA HILL OR PUNIC QUARTER

A visit to the Byrsa hill is essential to understand the different eras that made up the city of Carthage. It also offers a superb view of Tunis and its suburbs, as well as the nearby sacred mountain. You're standing on a mountain whose top the Romans hollowed out and cleared away to build a vast platform. This platform was to be the base of the great Carthage. The area in front of you looks exactly as it did the day after the Romans destroyed the city. Built in Hannibal's time, its streets intersect at right angles. From the four viewpoints on the large Roman foundation walls, you can better appreciate the layout of the various housing units. The Punic Quarter, discovered during archaeological excavations in 1972, shows the layout of a Punic city and the ancestor of mosaics (the"pavimenta punica"). It's easy to see why Roman mosaics play such an important role in Tunisia. It should be pointed out that the Phoenicians, who came from Libya and Syria, founded Carthage at a time when they were founding several cities and trading posts on the Mediterranean. Although the national museum is closed, with no date set for its reopening, we recommend a visit to gain a better understanding of the city's importance, which is difficult to grasp in today's urban jumble. The presence of a cultural guide is a real plus for better understanding what are today nothing but ruins!