Raison d'etre of the provincial town of El Jem, located away from the coastline 42 kilometers from the resort of Mahdia, is a magnificent ancient Roman coliseum, the third largest in the world in size and the first (!) For preservation .Everything in the city revolves around and around the coliseum: all roads converge here, life here is boiling (not least thanks to organized crowds of tourists), and all the city's souvenir stalls are filled with images of the ancient bulk .Occupying a favorable position at the intersection of trade routes from sub-Saharan Africa to the Mediterranean coast, 1 at .El Jem (which in Arabic means "crossroads") became so rich that he could afford the device of an expensive mass entertainment: 30 thousand city and neighboring residents craved bread and circuses on the tiers of the amphitheater .
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How to get to El Jem
- on louage (louage), local route taxi. Each city has its own station of louis (station de louages), from which the minibuses depart for different cities of the country. Please note that the cars are starting to move when all eight passenger seats are filled. The fare is about 2 TND from Mahdia (half an hour on the road), 3, 5 TND from Suss, 3 TND from Monastir (about an hour on the way). If you are coming from Hammamet, you will have to make a transfer in Sousse, there is no direct minibus Hammamet - El Jam.
- by train from Sousse and Hammamet (trains leave from Bir Bu Rugby station, 6 km from the city center). The ticket price from Suss - 4, 5 TND in the first class, from Hammamet - about 7 TND. The timetable can be found on the Tunisian railway website.
- renting a car. Although costly, but very convenient way to travel, especially if you want to enjoy the game of setting sun rays on the golden walls of the amphitheater. A suitable train may not be in the opposite direction, but lagging will have to wait indefinitely for the remaining passengers. Despite the remoteness from the main resorts, good roads lead to El Jem. Beware of donkeys and sheep, all of a sudden, and from wherever they come to the roadway.
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El Jem hotels
Directly in the city there are no accommodation options that could be recommended to foreign tourists - only a couple of native hotels with an incredibly minimal set of amenities. The ideal option is to stay in the resort Mahdia, where to the city about half an hour by shuttle bus.
Shopping: what to buy in El Jeme
Souvenir shops are located in a semicircular gallery around the amphitheater. There is a standard set of souvenirs, but one store deserves attention: there is a studio for making mosaics. You can buy ready-made small panels or, if you have the money and time to stay in the country, order a mosaic according to your sketch. It is interesting and simple to observe the work of mosaics.
Where to dine at El Jeme
The restaurants (as well as everything in the city) are located next to the Coliseum, on the square in front of the entrance. Here you can have a snack with sandwiches and pizza or have dinner with Tunisian cuisine - for example, order a complex dinner of snacks - a salad of meshuya and briques, soup-hodge and hot - couscous or grilled meat. Here you can drink freshly squeezed juice, contemplating imperial greatness.
- Imagine yourself as a Roman emperor in the central coliseum box.
- To marvel at the ancient water supply system at Villa Africa.
- See the famous mosaic with an owl and dead birds in the Museum of El Jem.
- To drink a glass of orange juice with a View on History.
Entertainment, excursions and attractions of El Jema
The main attraction is, of course, the Coliseum .Here you can take a walk in the arched passages, stand in the arena and enjoy its acoustics, climb to the upper tiers and survey the downtown city, and also go down to the underground rooms, where in anticipation of the fighting contained gladiators and wild animals .The southern wall of the coliseum was preserved almost in its original form, but the northern one was damaged in the times of the Turkish conquest, use it as a reference point for reaching the square and the main street of the city .The amphitheater is open from 7:00 to 19:00 in the summer and from 8:00 to 17:30 in the winter, entrance fee is 6 TND, plus 1 TND - permission to shoot .In a small shop inside Colosseum you can buy a DVD with a video telling about its history (about 20 TND) .
The "small but proud" archaeological museum is located one kilometer from the amphitheater. Here are collected wonderful, perfectly preserved mosaics from private villas in the ancient Roman neighborhoods surrounding Coliseum. Pay attention to the drunken Dionysus and an inspirational canvas depicting an owl and bird corpses with a signature something like "Envious people are dying from their bile, but an owl and in a mustache is not blowing!" "(A sample of a separate genre of" protective "mosaics). Entrance to the museum - by ticket to the amphitheater, no additional fee is charged.
Definitely worth a visit to Villa Africa, a recently unearthed and restored sample of a rich Roman dwelling. Here you can get an idea of the layout of buildings in that era, get acquainted with the water supply system and enjoy the colorful mosaics in situ, that is directly on the floor in the halls of the villa. The information stand in details tells about the technique of laying mosaics. Villa Africa is located in the back of the archaeological museum, the entrance is on a single ticket through the museum gate.
Festivals
If you were lucky enough to come to Tunis in mid-July-August, take the opportunity to visit the International Music Festival in El Jem .On Saturdays and sometimes in the middle of the week on the Coliseum arena there are concerts of classical and folk music .Among the invited stars are the Moiseev Ensemble and the Vienna Opera Orchestra (traditionally the festival opens with a selection of Strausses), the soloists of La Scala and the Bolshoi Theater .The program can be found on the festival's website, it is usually posted in June .The cost of tickets - from 10 to 25 TND, the beginning of the concerts - at 21:00 .In the days of the performances a special train is organized from Tunisia, Hammamet and Sousse; You can also use the services of local travel agencies: the cost of the trip is 60-70 TND, including the ticket price . Photo by El-Jem (7)