6-29-14. Teboursouk, Tunisia
Today marks the beginning of Ramadan, when all Muslims are required to fast from dawn to dusk. The non-Muslim tourist is virtually obligated to participate, since all the shops are closed and eating in public would be highly unadvisable. On the positive side, fewer Tunisians travel during the holy month, leaving the country’s attractions virtually free of crowds.
This, at least, was my experience today at Dougga. After the usual comedy of errors trying to find the bus station (misdirected by my guide book, I got off the tram at the wrong stop, and wandered for almost a half-hour before realizing my mistake), I hopped aboard the 8:30 to Teboursouk just as it was leaving, and arrived my cab at Dougga, one of the most famous Roman sites in all of north Africa, about two and a half hours later. To my astonishment, I was the only tourist there. Either because it was the first day of Ramadan, on account of the vicious heat (it was over 100 degrees in Teboursouk), or for some other reason, I encountered only one small tour group in the four hours I spent onsite. Given the city’s significance, this is amazing –something like being able to wander alone through Pompeii.
Dougga is set on the rocky slope overlooking a valley golden with wheat. Long lines of hills, blurring into the midday haze, encircle the fields and olive groves below. The city itself stretches for nearly a kilometer down the hill, its streets descending by steps and switchbacks from the capitol at the summit to the baths at the foot. Between, well-preserved temples are scattered among Roman streets and villas. Despite damage caused by the construction of a fort over the forum in the sixth century, virtually the whole city layout is maintained intact, allowing a real sense of how the various quarters were organized.
I will mention only a few highlights. The well-preserved theater, situated near the site entrance, affords spectacular overviews of the site and valley below. Two monumental arches, now framed by olive groves at the edges of the site, are equally photogenic. But the centerpiece of the city, now as in antiquity, is the Capitolium, an almost perfectly preserved temple; despite eighteen centuries of wear, the pediment sculpture, showing the emperor’s soul being borne up to heaven by an eagle, is still clear.
The most impressive buildings below the capital are probably the two large bath complexes, both with many of their mosaics in situ. In the final estimate, however, it is the cumulative effect of Dougga that is most striking. Almost nowhere else can one really experience a Roman town as an architectural whole; and to be able to do so without the crowds of an Ephesus or Pompeii is a wonderful opportunity.
I may not have exploited the opportunity to the fullest; time constraints prevented me from visiting a few outlying monuments, and the heat was almost unbearable by the end of the third shadeless hour. But the experience of Dougga alone counterbalances all the aggravations of travel in Tunisia. No number of packed trams or filthy streets can change that.