Dougga - Temple of Juno Caelestis

On the way back to the starting-point of the tour of the site of Dougga we pass the Temple of Juno Caelestis, the Roman equivalent of the Punic goddess Tanit. Its semicircular layout recalls the crescent moon which was the commonest symbol for Tanit. Built between 222 and 235 by Julius Gabinius and his wife Julia Gabinia Venusta, the peripteral temple is surrounded by a semicircular portico which itself is enclosed by a semicircular wall. The basin for ritual purification lay between the ring wall and a subsidiary building to the east of the temple precinct. On the north side of the temple is an apse, constructed when it was converted into a church. Below the temple are the Exedra of Juno Regina, a small oratory and the Columbarium of the Remii, a Roman family tomb of the A.D. second/third century.