Kerkouane

When Rome destroyed Carthage it built over most of the Punic world, which is why almost nothing purely Carthaginian survives. Kerkouane is the exception: a small coastal town abandoned in the third century BC and never reoccupied, so its street plan, house foundations, workshops and drains are the clearest picture we have of how Punic people actually lived, and it is listed by UNESCO for exactly that reason. The detail that everyone remembers is domestic: nearly every house has a bathroom with a hip-bath moulded in pink lime plaster, sitting there in the open, which tells you more about daily life than any temple would. The town made purple dye from murex shells, and the heaps of crushed shells are still visible. It stands on a low cliff above a clear sea on Cap Bon, and it is usually almost deserted.

History

One of the most important Punic cities alongside Carthage, Hadrumetum and Utica, the town existed for almost 400 years, was probably abandoned during the First Punic War, around 250 BC, and was never rebuilt by the Romans; its ancient name is unknown, and archaeologists named it after a Libyco-Berber word meaning to wall up. In 1985 UNESCO listed the Punic town and its necropolis as a World Heritage Site, noting that it is the only Phoenician-Punic city to have survived (Wikipedia, Kerkouane).

Highlights

• The pink bathtubs - the plaster hip-baths in the houses, the site's signature detail.
• The street plan - Punic streets, drains and house foundations, unaltered by Rome.
• The murex heaps - crushed shells from the purple dye industry.
• The cliff setting - the town above a clear sea on the Cap Bon coast.

When to go

Spring and autumn are the most pleasant on Cap Bon; summer is hot and the site has no shade. The small museum by the entrance is worth ten minutes for the context. It closes on Mondays.

Before you go

There is not a great deal standing: this is foundations, thresholds and floors rather than columns and arches, so its interest is archaeological and imaginative rather than visually dramatic. Interpretation on site is thin. It is two hours from Tunis on the Cap Bon peninsula and needs a car or a taxi from Kelibia, and most tour circuits skip it entirely.

Nearby

Kelibia's fort and beaches are close; El Haouaria's caves are at the tip of the peninsula.

Key facts