| Approaching El-Djem by road, one sees a vast, cylindrical, entirely mysterious structure rising up in the distance. Only as one gets closer does one discover a sleepy little town beneath it. Here the ancient world seems to overshadow the modern world completely. The amphitheater, probably dating from the beginning of the third century, is famous for its size - 148 meters (485 feet) long, 124 meters (407 feet) wide, and with a perimeter of 427 meters (1,400 feet) - and its state of conservation. The ancient Roman city of Thysdrus had initially made do with an amphitheater carved out of the soft volcanic tuff. The growth of the city’s population (probably to several tens of thousands in the second to third centuries) and its increase in wealth thanks to olive-growing, demanded the construction of this prestigious edifice whose architecture is similar to that of the Coliseum in Rome. El-Djem serves as a reminder that in ancient times the population south of the Mediterranean was as large and prosperous as that to the north, and suggests that the same demographics could return without causing a catastrophe. As impressive as it is now, the El-Djem amphitheater would appear small next to skyscrapers around it. |
.&title2=Amphitheater at El-Djem, Governorate of Mahdia, Tunisia (35°18’N, 10°43’E).&title3=El-Djem, Gobernación de Mahdia, Túnez (35°18’N - 10°43’E). "download in wallpaper")
Add the gadget "Earth from above" to your iGoogle page and learn every day a new photo