"Chemtou: looking for golden . . . stones :-)))" Top 5 Page for this destination Tunisia Off The Beaten Path Tip by Elisabcn

Ici brille le rocher doré des Numides (Stace, IAD)

Chemtou is a real off the beaten path. It is not easy to reach if you are travelling by public transport soo after visiting 467833458833 archaeological sites in Tunisia there was no need to go there. In fact what attracted me of this site was not its archaeological interest but its origins which are also the source of the most beautiful ancient buildings around Tunisia and in the ancient world: the marble of Chemtou.
Simitthus has Numidian origins and since then it was known by its marble which had a nice mix of orange, red, yellow and pink colours. It became a roman settlement during the reign of Augustus (27BC) and thanks again to the marble soon became a wealthy city. It spread around the mountain, with the free men living to the west, and the prisoners who worked the quarries to the east. All Roman functions were established here and there were also some constructions to the citizens’ entertainment like the theatre or the amphitheatre. The quarries worked until Byzantine times and abandoned during 7th century due to the Arab invasion.
The marble of Chemtou is the beautiful result of a long geological process that lasted 225-250 millions of years. Time, temperature, strength (pressure) and water originated these stones used to construct great buildings like the Pantheon in Rome, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul or the Gymnasium in Athens. And rain gave the colours! Water rain, rich in oxygen, penetrated into the faults of these rocks and gave all those kind of tonalities from dark red to golden yellow (the most appreciated one) and white-blue by the oxidation of iron. Known as the golden stone or golden marble it will be the favourite stone for Romans to build their villas and the quarrying operations in Chemtou were the most sophisticated in the Roman world. After the murder of Julius Cesar, Roman people built a commemorative column using Chemtou marble.

For more information about Chemtou, please check my Chemtou page

Directions: North West of Tunisia, in the middle of nowhere!