Case study: Carthage in Tunisia

Hello, everybody. Today we’ll talk about Carthage, the ancient capital of a trading empire which dominated a large part of the Mediterranean during the first millennium before Christ, and we will look into what happens to archaeological sites when modern cities close to them develop. The archaeological site of Carthage in fact, as you can see, is located in the northern periphery of Tunis the capital of Tunisia. The UNESCO recognised the archaeological site of Carthage World Heritage site in 1979. Since its foundations by the Phoenicians in 860 Before Christ, Carthage was successfully invaded destroyed and rebuilt by various civilizations– the Romans, the Vandals, the Byzantines.

After the Arab Conquest in 698, it was abandoned to the benefits of Tunis where a new urban centre was established. After centuries of decay and pillages, Christian missionaries who set foot in Tunisia in the 19th century wished to use Carthage as the stepping point to the rechristianisation of Africa. During the French Protectorate, several archaeological missions were conducted to exhume Punic, Roman and Paleochristian ruins. In 1890, a new cathedral was inaugurated at the peak of Byrsa Hill overlooking the whole site. And Carthage underwent a rapid process of urbanisation, especially after the construction of the TGM, the train linking the centre of Tunis to the northern suburbs of La Marsa.

Residential developments to accommodate the newcomers caused irreversible harms to the antique ruins. After independence in 1956 and the construction of the presidential palace, the movement of urbanisation proceeded. A civil society organisation, the Association for the Safeguarding of the Medina, mobilised to obtain support from UNESCO to preserve the archaeological heritage of Carthage. After preliminary missions in the 1960s, in 1972, the then director of UNESCO launched a call to save Carthage. The 12 archaeological missions that were conducted until 1995 revealed new monuments and restrictions were introduced in the local urban planning regulations, as well as the national regulation in 1983 and 1985 to prevent new constructions. The consequences of these measures were considered ambivalent.

On one hand, they partially succeeded in stopping the development of new constructions on the site. On the other hand, these measures were deemed only restrictive. The various proposals aiming at enhancing the site, such as the Protection and Presentation Plan in 1995 and the World Bank Project in 2003 were not implemented. In addition, five presidential decrees further reduced the area of the site. In 1999, an area was removed from the protected area for the construction of the El Abidin Mosque on Odeon Hill. And in 2007 and 2008, four acres of land were allocated to the construction of high end residential compounds. These projects were stopped in 2011 after the Tunisian revolution.

Half a century after the launching of the UNESCO campaign, Carthage has yet to be saved.