El Djem

Not far from Sousse lies a little-known city of El Djem. This is its modern name, but in ancient times it was called Thysdrus and was part of the Roman Empire.

So, the Romans, as part of their cultural program to destroying Carthage, once decided to built a gigantic amphitheater in El Djem. This happened 150 years after the construction of the Colosseum, so another stadium was no longer surprising to anyone. However, the amphitheater still turned out to be very impressive. It was the fourth largest in the entire Roman Empire and could hold 30 thousand people.

Well, it was very unexpected to see a replica of the Colosseum in Africa. There it is, peeking out from behind the roof:

No, just look at this:

An absolutely incredible sight. A real Colosseum stands right in the middle of an Arab market.

From the back, there are cafes and some residential houses.

Of course, they give tourists camel rides here.

Inside, there are exactly the same multi-layered arches as in Rome.

The rows of seats are in excellent condition. Only the walls have collapsed.

One can go into the basements where the gladiators’ dressing rooms were located.

One can even step onto the arena. Unlike the Colosseum, it has been completely preserved.

Well, one can even go under the arena! In the Colosseum, a similar place is called the hypogeum. This is where they kept the animals that were suddenly launched into the arena to fight with gladiators.

But the biggest advantage of El Djem over the Colosseum is, of course, the ability to climb all over it. The Arabs don’t give a damn about all this historical stuff.

So the walls of the amphitheater are constantly covered with tourists and local children, who apparently sneak in through holes in the fence.

Absolutely wonderful place. On the walls, there is even an autograph from some American named Steve Sollon from 1943. Apparently, he was here as part of the army fighting Hitler on the African front.

And this is how this wonder of the world is protected. A flimsy fence that you could not only climb over but also jump over.