DOUGGA - ANCIENT ROMAN TOWN, TUNISIA| FAMILY TRAVEL| 4K HD VIDEO| JULY 2023

DOUGGA - ANCIENT ROMAN TOWN, TUNISIA
Arguably the most magnificent Roman site in Africa, Dougga’s ancient remains - a Unesco World Heritage site since 1997 - are startlingly complete, giving a beguiling glimpse of how well-heeled Romans lived, flitting between bathhouses, the imposing Capitole, a 3500-seat theatre and various temples. The city was built on the site of an ancient Numidian settlement called Thugga, which explains why the streets are so uncharacteristically tangled. The 2nd-century-BC Libyco-Punic Mausoleum is the country’s finest pre-Roman monument.
A Roman city with a view, Dougga is set on an enchanting hillside surrounded by olive groves and overlooking fields of grain, with forested hills beyond. Built of yellowish-tan stone, its mellow tones meld harmoniously with the brown, tan and dark-green landscape of the Kalled Valley and the Teboursouk Mountains.
Nestled into the hillside, the outstanding restored theatre, whose 19 tiers could accommodate an audience of 3500, was built in AD 168 by one of the city’s wealthier residents, Marcius Quadratus. The nosebleed seats have spectacular views of the encircling valleys. Today, the theatre serves as a superb setting for listening to North African music during the month-long Dougga Festival, usually held in July or August.
A bit further north stands the Temple of Saturn, which must have been a magnificent sight after its completion in AD 195, but today only six stunted columns remain. Built on a platform facing east over the valley of Oued (River) Kalled, it dominated the ancient city’s northern approach. The structure stands on the site of an earlier temple to Baal Hammon, the chief Punic deity, who was reinterpreted as Saturn in Roman times and was the favoured god of Roman Africa.
Nearby, the so-called Numidian Wall protected the city in pre-Roman days. At the wall's southern end, the reconstructed apse next to the Temple of Saturn is all that remains of the Sanctuary of Neptune. Dozens of primitive dolmen graves, the oldest structures at Dougga, dot the northwestern edge of the Numidian Wall.
From the Sanctuary of Neptune, follow a rough path west, turn left when it comes to an end and then right for the nine Cisterns of Ain Mizeb. The city’s main water supply, they were fed by a spring some 200m to the west and remain in excellent condition.
Follow the dirt route that leads northwest and then cut across the fields to glimpse the underwhelming remains of the Temple of Minerva. Looking northwest from here, it’s possible to discern the outline of the circus, once the staging grounds for chariot races and now an elongated wheat field filling a saddle between two hills.
There is lot more to see in Dougga. I think its worth visiting the ancient roman township.
The best time to visit Dougga is early in the morning or late in the day; there's precious little shade to avoid the heat of the midday sun. Dougga is a huge site, so allow at least three hours. There's a tiny cafe that has a small range of snacks and drinks near the car park at the theatre.
The main entrance faces the town of Teboursouk on the eastern edge of the site; there's another entrance via Nouvelle Dougga, where locals who lived in the ruins were required to move to when Dougga became an official site, but this way requires lots of climbing uphill to get in. Guides sometimes hang around the entrances offering tours, and they charge about 25DT per person. The site has some signage in Arabic, French and English.
Dougga can easily be visited as a day trip from Tunis or Le Kef - or en route between the two. If you're coming by public transport, get a bus or louage (shared taxi) to Teboursouk and then flag a yellow taxi to bring you to the site for about 25DT, including two hours of waiting time.
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