Gafsa - Roman Pools

(Local Name: Piscines Romaines) At the southeast end of Avenue Habib Bourguiba can be found Gafsa's principal tourist sight, the Roman Pools (Piscines Romaines). There are two 4m/13ft deep pools linked by a small tunnel and fed by thermal springs at a temperature of 25°C/77°F. The massive blocks of dressed stone of which the pools are constructed date from the Roman period, and some of them bear inscriptions. When there are any tourists about the local children jump into the pools from the top of the walls or from the surrounding palm-trees in the expectation of a suitable reward. In the water live blue-lipped mouthbreeders (cichlids), a species of fish which incubate their eggs in their mouths. Beside the larger of the two pools stands the old Turkish Bey's Palace, with arcading borne on columns with antique capitals.