Antonine Baths

Antonine Baths

Attraction Introduction    Although Carthage was destroyed, the Romans valued its superior geographical location, so they rebuilt it on the same site as the capital of the North African province. The rebuilt city of Carthage was later destroyed by the Vandals, and the most famous of the ruins that remain today are the Antonine Baths (Antonine Baths), built in the 2nd century AD.

The Antonine Baths were constructed under the reigns of Roman emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, around the 2nd century BC. They are the largest in North Africa and the third-largest Roman baths in the world.

Built along the picturesque Mediterranean coast, the Antonine Baths cover an area of 3.5 hectares, with two levels of above-ground structures and a basement level used for water supply and drainage systems. The water needed for the baths came from natural springs in the Zaghouan mountains, dozens of kilometers away, which was channeled through tall aqueduct walls and then heated into thermal water.

The baths were divided for men and women, featuring 12 different functional rooms including a sauna, gymnasium, and massage rooms. At the time, the baths were an important social and leisure venue for Roman society. Although today only a few standing stone columns and some ruins remain, the scale of the ruins allows us to imagine the bustling scene back then.

Tunis, Tunisia