Discover Chemtou the city of marble
Chemtou is a special place to visit. This once wealthy roman city was called Simitthu or Simithas. This roman site wrapped around a mountain with the free men living on one side and the quarry slaves living on the other. Think that you had a hard day at work? Try toiling as a Roman slave quarrying the prized pink-veined yellow marble from the pits in Chemtou. Though no more marble is quarried from this historical site, the Romans used the marble widely and closely identified it with extravagance and luxury. “No beams of Athenian stone rest in my house,” wrote the poet Horace, “on columns quarried in furthest Africa”. Such was the demand for marble that the now Tunisian historical site of Chemtou blossomed from a simple work camp to a thriving town in a matter of years.

The effort required to export this stone from the ‘furthest Africa’ was enormous. It was either floated down the Medjerda River to Utica or dragged on a road built specially over the Khroumirie mountains, and then shipped from Tabarka. Of course, the amount of effort needed to quarry this marble only enhanced its value as a status symbol.

The quarries of Chemtou were imperial property and the privilege of the emperors who decided who would and would not have access to the marble. Emperor Hadrian, a great devotee of Chemtou marble, once presented a hundred columns to Athens and twenty to Smyrna as gestures of imperial favor. The quarry workers themselves were imperial prisoners and outlaws condemned to labor in the quarries under the control of the army.

Ruins of the town such as the amphitheatre, public baths and basilica help visitors and tourists imagine what life must have been like for the more privileged residents of Chemtou. The Chemtou quarrying operation was reputed to be the most sophisticated in the Roman world. Each block carried the emperor’s stamp, as well as those of the proconsul for Africa, the quarry supervisor and a reference mark. Adventurers of all ages can climb through the Chemtou quarries where half-extracted slabs leave visitors speculating as to why this particular block was forsaken. The forum and basilica that are still in good condition. The site also has an amphitheatre built by the slaves. The Ancient Roman baths, as well as the bridge, Numedian altar and Roman temple have suffered through the ages, but the remnants amplify the historical feel of this special place to visit in Tunisia.

Chemtou Museum :
The most interesting part of the site is the very well conceived museum built in the 1990s. Unlike most Tunisian museums (typically housed in former palaces or places not originally intended for displays), this space was conceived after the excavation of the site with the order, size and layout of the objects collected in mind.
The Chemtou museum introduces the geology of the site, shows the different layers of stone and marble as well as the different quarrying techniques in Numidian and Roman times. Examples of marble as well, as how it was cut into pieces and then reassembled bring these ancient techniques to life.
Also part of the exhibit are Numidian inscriptions, descriptions of funerary traditions as well as a large number of details about the Roman army originally stationed there. The reconstruction of the mill and small courtyard with rebuilt temple walls should not be missed.