Makthar

Makthar stands at around nine hundred metres in the high plains, which makes it cold in winter and bearable in summer, and it began as a Numidian town before becoming Roman. The Arch of Trajan of 116 stands more or less complete at the entrance to the forum, and around it are the great baths, a Numidian mausoleum, a Byzantine fort built out of reused Roman blocks, and the schola juvenum, a youth association building later turned into a church.

What you actually see

• The Arch of Trajan - a triumphal arch of 116 standing nearly complete.
• The great baths - a large bath complex with surviving vaulting and floors.
• The Numidian mausoleum - a pre-Roman tomb monument on the site.
• The Byzantine fort - a fortress built from reused Roman masonry.

When to go

April to October is comfortable; the altitude makes winter genuinely cold and often wet. Spring brings flowers across the plateau. The site is open daily.

Honest expectations

It is remote and the journey from anywhere is long. Winter here is cold and windy, which visitors expecting North African heat find surprising. Facilities in the town are basic.

Nearby

Haidra is southwest, and Kairouan is east.