Kerkouane

Kerkouane
Shown within Tunisia
Location Nabeul Governorate, Tunisia
Coordinates 36°56′47″N 11°05′57″E / 36.946389°N 11.099167°E / 36.946389; 11.099167
Official name Punic Town of Kerkuane and its Necropolis
Type Cultural
Criteria iii
Designated 1985 (9th session)
Reference no. 332
UNESCO Region Arab States

Kerkouane or Kerkuane (Arabic: كركوان‎‎, Karkwān) is a Punic city in north-eastern Tunisia, near Cape Bon. This Phoenician city was probably abandoned during the First Punic War (c. 250 BC) and, as a result, was not rebuilt by the Romans. It had existed for almost 400 years.

Excavations of the town have revealed ruins and coins from the 4th and 3rd Centuries BC. Around the site where the layout is clearly visible, many houses still show their walls, and the coloured clay on the facades is often still visible. The houses were built to a standard plan, in accordance with a sophisticated notion of town planning.

A sanctuary has some columns preserved, and in a small atrium parts of mosaics are found. Curbstones, doorsteps, thresholds, and floors of simple mosaic layers are found all over the ruins. Still archaeologists work on the Kerkouane site, but it is believed that the best parts have already been discovered.

Kerkouane was one of the most important Punic cities, with Carthage, Hadrumetum (modern Sousse) and Utica.

Sights

UNESCO declared the Punic Town of Kerkouane and its Necropolis a World Heritage Site in 1985, citing among other things that the remains constitute the only example of a Phoenicio-Punic city to have survived.

Coordinates: 36°56′47″N 11°05′57″E / 36.94639°N 11.09917°E / 36.94639; 11.09917

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