Today we took a short ride with Bolt (5,70 TND) to Carthage Archeological Area (entrance 12 TND). Nowadays, the ruins of ancient Carthage are surrounded by luxurious villas with gardens full of red hibiscus blossoms and purple bougainvillea. The scanty remains of the once-mighty Phoenician city of Carthage lie scattered across the neighborhood. According to tradition, Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians of Tyre in 814 BC. It was enclosed by a wall more than 40 kilometers long, 10 meters thick, and up to 13 meters high, reinforced by towers, ditches, and earthworks, which protected the city and the surrounding agricultural area from enemy attack. A force of 20,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and 300 elephants defended the city. Under the Magonid (Hannibal) dynasty, Carthage became the leading commercial power in the western Mediterranean. The conflict with Rome resulted in three Punic Wars ended with the complete destruction of Carthage in 146 BC. The city was plundered, burned down, razed to the ground, and plowed over, and the whole area was sprinkled with salt so that even the soil should be made infertile. Before leaving this excellent site we made some shopping at Monoprix supermarket (baguette 0,6 TND, yoghurt 0,65 TND, local dark chocolate 3,34 TND, water 2 l – 0,71 TND, citronade 1 l – 2,8 TND, bananas 4,49 TND / kg, onion 7,23 / kg, Schweppes 0,33 l – 1,45 TND).
Parking location – Sidi Bou Said: 36.867469N 10.349877E (💦, 🚻)