Carthage - Archeological Park

The Archeological Park (Parc Archéologique) in Carthage, behind the baths, was laid out in 1953. The rectangular grid of streets shows the layout of this residential quarter of the Roman town. The park reflects the long history of Carthage, with Punic graves of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C., the five-aisled Basilica of Douimès, dating from the sixth century A.D., and an underground burial chapel (the Chapelle Sainte-Monique) of the seventh century for one Asterius, moved here from its original site.

In one of the numerous apses of the Schola (a kind of club or meeting-place) is a well preserved Late Roman mosaic depicting preparations for some imperial ceremony. All over the site are the remains of Roman cisterns, and under a tree are numbers of limestone "cannonballs", projectiles from Carthaginian arsenals. North-east of the Archeological Park, on a site formerly occupied by a 19th century Bey's Palace, stands the well guarded Presidential Palace.