Visiting The Archaeological Site of Mactaris, Makthar | Tunisia
February 1 2020
Using El Kef as a base I visited the archaeological site of Mactaris as a day trip. Here's all the details of how to get there and back using public transport only with lots of stunning photos to boot.
Makthar is 70km from El Kef, 5 Dinar, 1 hr 20 in a red striped louage.
Entrance fee for the site is 8 Dinar. Very easy.
On arrival in Makthar, I wanted to check out the existence of the 'lodgings' pin pointed on GMaps. This was to make my mini guide to Tunisia complete.
The 'lodgings' did not exist. It's a Tunisian Telecom compound. I quartered the area, twice. There is rien de tout that qualifies as lodgement.
I criss crossed town a few times essentially killing time for the sun to descend a little so I could have some 'nice light' but also, wanting to find a hotel.
Makthar is, so it seems, a town without a hotel. Very strange.
This is Bab El Ain which you will see when heading from town. The entrance to the archaeological site is across the road.
Entrance fee for the site is 8 Dinar. Very easy.
On arrival in Makthar, I wanted to check out the existence of the 'lodgings' pin pointed on GMaps. This was to make my mini guide to Tunisia complete.
The 'lodgings' did not exist. It's a Tunisian Telecom compound. I quartered the area, twice. There is rien de tout that qualifies as lodgement.
I criss crossed town a few times essentially killing time for the sun to descend a little so I could have some 'nice light' but also, wanting to find a hotel.
Makthar is, so it seems, a town without a hotel. Very strange.
This is Bab El Ain which you will see when heading from town. The entrance to the archaeological site is across the road.
And here it is:
There's a small museum.
A brief write up of Mactaris, taken in part from the information board:
At over 900m asl, Mactaris was founded in the late 5th century BC by the Numidians who were Berber tribes living in much of what is the present day Maghreb.
It was annexed to the Roman Empire by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. In the 2nd century AD, Mactaris became the capital of a district incorporating several cities and under Marcus Aurelius between 176 and 180AD inhabitants of Mactaris were granted Roman citizenship.
From an archaeological point if view the Roman period is the richest with the paved forum dominated by the Triumphal arch dedicated to Emperor Trajan. There are also the thermal baths and the amphitheatre.
At over 900m asl, Mactaris was founded in the late 5th century BC by the Numidians who were Berber tribes living in much of what is the present day Maghreb.
It was annexed to the Roman Empire by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. In the 2nd century AD, Mactaris became the capital of a district incorporating several cities and under Marcus Aurelius between 176 and 180AD inhabitants of Mactaris were granted Roman citizenship.
From an archaeological point if view the Roman period is the richest with the paved forum dominated by the Triumphal arch dedicated to Emperor Trajan. There are also the thermal baths and the amphitheatre.
Center stage is the Arc de Trajan, dedicated to Emperor Trajan in the year 116.
Inscription on the Arc de Trajan.
Mactaris is quite a large site.
The Roman baths .
This was my last shot. The sky was clearing and I changed the settings on my camera a bit
On the way here I was dropped in the center so I had to ask where the station was to get back to El Kef. Normally I ride until the last stop but today I hadn't.
A few wrong turnings later I was in the right place. I saw the driver from the mornings ride. There were not enough 'voyagers', mainly because at 3pm there would be a big bus running from Kairouan to El Kef.
And oppostite where the bus stop was, was perhaps the town's only hotel. WTF. The Hotel Maktharis.
60 Dinar for a single. 90 for a double. Though it was full. Wow. Attached was what you could say was the bottle shop. A guy selling slabs of Tunisian beer.
Bus fare back to El Kef 4,190 Dinar. Journey time 90 mins +/-.
There is also a bus going the other way to Kairouan coming through at roughly the same time. Make sure you get in the right one.
There is no timetable posted anywhere. This is local knowledge.
Arrival point is the main bus station in the southern part of the city so the walk up hill to the center stretches your stiffed limbs from the journey.
A few wrong turnings later I was in the right place. I saw the driver from the mornings ride. There were not enough 'voyagers', mainly because at 3pm there would be a big bus running from Kairouan to El Kef.
And oppostite where the bus stop was, was perhaps the town's only hotel. WTF. The Hotel Maktharis.
60 Dinar for a single. 90 for a double. Though it was full. Wow. Attached was what you could say was the bottle shop. A guy selling slabs of Tunisian beer.
Bus fare back to El Kef 4,190 Dinar. Journey time 90 mins +/-.
There is also a bus going the other way to Kairouan coming through at roughly the same time. Make sure you get in the right one.
There is no timetable posted anywhere. This is local knowledge.
Arrival point is the main bus station in the southern part of the city so the walk up hill to the center stretches your stiffed limbs from the journey.
