Dougga/Thugga - Tunisia

Website Category: Frontiers of the Roman Empire  

Area: 0.7km² 

Inscribed: 1997

Criteria: (ii)  interchange of values (iii)  cultural tradition

Location and Values:  The archaeological site of Dougga/Thugga is located in the Tebersouk Mountains in northern Tunisia, about 100 km south-east of Tunis.  It’s most prominent ruins are Roman, built during the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries AD, and include its remarkably intact Capitol building, a theatre and its Licinian Baths. , The ruins are reckoned to be the best preserved example of an Africo-Roman town in North Africa.

Despite the site’s conspicuous Roman heritage, it was occupied continuously for almost 1700 years, and includes Tunisia’s finest pre-Roman monument (a Libyo-Punic Mausoleum dating from the 2^nd century BC), and dozens of primitive dolmen graves which date back to the 2^nd millennium BC.  The Roman town of Dougga developed on the site of ancient Thugga (capital of the Numidian kingdom), and because it adopted the existing town layout its streets are uncharacteristically twisted and conspicuously unplanned.

Slideshow of Dougga/Thugga:  The slideshow provides a short sequence of photos provided by Bridget Goldsmith and David Trump showing the golden-stone Capitol building, with its mighty fluted columns and magnificent carved portico, as well as some broader views of the site, an intact row of latrines in the Cyclops Baths, and the splendid 3,500-seat theatre.

Slideshow of Dougga/Thugga:

Google Earth View:  To view satellite imagery of Dougga/Thugga on Google Earth, click here. This opens a new window, so when you are finished, just close the Google Earth page and you will be straight back here to continue browsing.

Links to other places featuring the frontiers of the Roman Empire:  Djemila  I  Timgad  I  Tipaza  I  Cyrene  I  Leptis Magna  I  Sabratha  I  El Jem  I  Carthage  I  Volubilis 

Other Links:     Official UNESCO Site Details