Gightis - Excavations

Gightis's active trading relations led to cultural exchanges, and Greek, Egyptian and Punic influences left their mark on the town, particularly in the architecture. The remains now visible date mainly from the second century A.D. Coming from Djorf, we first encounter the remains of Roman baths, a rectangular complex with a circular palaestra. To the east was the forum, surrounded by the principal public buildings. On the north side was the temple of Apollo, Concord and Hercules, on the east side a temple of Dionysus (Liber Pater) and on the west side the Capitoline temple (probably dedicated to the Egyptian divinities Isis and Serapis), of which there remain only the steps leading up to the podium and six stumps of columns. To the south of the forum were the market and the residential areas of the town, lying beyond the little river Chabel el Hassian, with a view of the sea. In the southwest of the town are the remains of an early third century temple of Mercury. Finds from the site and a model of the town can be seen in the Bardo National Museum in Tunis. On the north side of the site can be seen a Byzantine fortress.