About This Site
The Sidi Khelifa archaeological site lies about a hundred kilometers south of Tunis, near Bouficha. It belongs to the Sousse governorate. This rural town developed around a 19th-century mausoleum. In the mid-1980s, the village expanded using ancestral techniques and local materials.
Sidi Khelifa, Roman forum, nymphaeum, and thermal baths
The site adjoins Pheradi Majus, an ancient city with remains from the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Visitors can see an intact triumphal arch, a forum with commercial premises, a nymphaeum, a Capitoline temple, and thermal baths. A temple to Venus on a wooded hill later became a Byzantine fortress. The view extends to the sea and the Dorsale foothills.
Researchers discovered Pheradi Majus in 2003 through a Latin text. The city became a municipality under Marcus Aurelius and later a Roman colony before its abandonment in the 12th century.
Key monuments include the nymphaeum with five basins, thermal baths covering 500 m², and a religious complex with several temples. Only foundations remain, but the site still reveals its ancient grandeur.
Ultimately, Sidi Khelifa offers a fascinating glimpse into Tunisia’s Roman, Byzantine, and local heritage.
Sidi Khelifa archaeological site in Photos
