Carthage: The Roman and Early Christian Museum of Carthage: reopened on Wednesday evening, following extensive renovations that began in April 2024. The reopening was attended by Minister of Cultural Affairs Amina Srarfi, along with several scientific staff from the National Heritage Institute, the Heritage Revival and Cultural Development Agency, participating experts who helped prepare the museum, and representatives from embassies accredited in Tunisia.
According to Agence Tunis Afrique Presse, the accompanying guidebook, prepared by researchers Nejib Ben Lazreg and Sihem Aloui, highlights the museum’s significance as a key stop for understanding the development of Carthage during the late Roman and early Christian periods. The museum displays documented archaeological finds related to religious architecture, civic spaces, and spiritual practices of the time.
The museum was originally established in 1984 as part of an international campaign to save Carthage launched by UNESCO. Several scientific institut
ions contributed to its creation, including the Kelsey Museum at the University of Michigan, under the supervision of Tunisian curator Abdelmajid Nabli and American archaeologist John Humphrey, with financial support from the Earthwatch Foundation. Since its inception, the museum has been unique in presenting the results of scientific excavations directly at their original sites, making it an important reference for research.
A Journey through four centuries of Christian Carthage, the museum, located in Carthage Dermech in the northern suburbs of the capital, sits on a site rich with archaeological layers revealing the city’s development across successive periods. In its updated form, the museum offers a complete visitor route, allowing guests to explore the Great Byzantine Church, which measures over 36 meters in length and 25.5 meters in width. This five-aisled church with eight niches features geometric mosaics on its floors, some elements of which were crafted in Constantinople and brought to Carthage. I
t was built atop an older church dating to the late 4th century, as revealed by the excavation layers and architectural elements uncovered.
The baptismal basin is one of the most prominent features, designed with a square layout and an octagonal core, a central cross-shaped pool, surrounded by a circular colonnade and spiral columns made of Chemtou marble. This reflects the spiritual importance the church placed on baptism during that period, according to researchers Najib Ben Lazreg and Sihem Aloui.
The museum also reveals a complete ecclesiastical complex uncovered between 1976 and 1984, including living quarters, small workshops, wells, cisterns, and passageways connected to Carthage’s urban network, showing continuous human use of the site even after the Arab conquest. The museum houses two rare peacock mosaics, one discovered between 1970 and 1971 and the other in 1984, considered among the finest Christian mosaics symbolising immortality and eternal life.
Additionally, the museum displays a wide rang
e of pottery, including Punic harbour ceramics and Dermech pottery found on site, along with metal and bronze artifacts and ancient coins, the oldest being a 3rd-century BCE Punic coin featuring the famous horse emblem. The museum also features the statue of Ganymede Abducted by Zeus, a unique marble work of global significance, reconstructed after being found broken into 17 pieces.
Minister of Cultural Affairs Amina Srarfi told reporters that the reopening of this institution represents support for the process of heritage valorisation, noting that while the museum is small in size, it is significant in the value of its research and the cultural artifacts it contains. She added that the ministry is working to reopen closed museums across the governorates and to strengthen cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism to promote cultural tourism and integrate heritage into educational curricula.
For her part, Rabia Belfguira, Director General of the Heritage Revival and Cultural Development Agency, explained that
the agency recorded around one million Tunisian and foreign visitors in 2024 and aims to reach 1.5 million visitors in 2025. She emphasised the need to develop joint tourist routes with the Ministry of Tourism and Handicrafts to attract a larger share of the 11 million tourists who visit Tunisia annually. She also announced plans for artistic lighting projects at several sites, notably the El Jem Amphitheater, as well as night-time visitor routes in multiple cities.
The museum has been closed several times for renovations, including in 2010 and 2013. It reopened in June 2021 after being closed for years following the theft of the historic Ganymede statue in 2013. This unique piece was recovered in 2017. The museum closed again in March 2024 for maintenance and restoration work. At that time, interior work was carried out, along with renovations of the storage area and the curator’s office in October 2024, as well as paving and trimming of the exterior sidewalk surrounding the museum in November 2024.