Gebel Barkal and the sites of the region Napatan (2003)

These five archaeological sites cover an area of over 60 km long in the Nile Valley. All sites are Napatan (900 to 270 BC) and Meroitic (270 BC to 350 AD), the time of the second kingdom of Kush. The sites include tombs with and without pyramids, temples, houses and palaces. Since antiquity the hill of Gebel Barkal remained closely linked with religious traditions and folklore. The main temples are still regarded as sacred places.

Amphitheatre of El Jem (1979)

In the small village of El Jem are the impressive ruins of the largest coliseum in North Africa, a huge amphitheatre where could take a seat 35 000 spectators. This construction of the third century shows the extent and greatness of the Roman Empire.

Medina of Tunis (1979)

Under the reign of the Almohad and Hafsids, the twelfth to the sixteenth century, Tunis was considered one of the most important and richest in the Islamic world. Some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains, testify to this remarkable past.

Site of Carthage (1979)

Founded in the ninth century BC on the Gulf of Tunis, Carthage developed from the sixth century an empire covering much of the Mediterranean and was home to a brilliant civilization. During the long Punic wars, they occupied the territories of Rome, but it finally destroyed in 146 BC. A second Carthage, the Roman one, was established on its ruins.

Ichkeul National Park (1980)

The lake and wetlands are Ichkeul point for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds - ducks, geese, storks, flamingos, etc... Which come to feed and nest there. The lake is the last remnant of a chain of lakes which once extended across North Africa.

Punic Town of Kerkuane and its Necropolis (1985, 1986)

This Phoenician city, probably abandoned during the first Punic War (c. 250 BC.), And have therefore not been rebuilt by the Romans, we offer the only remains of a Phoenician-Punic city that has survived. Its houses were built to a standard plan, following a model of sophisticated urbanism.

Kairouan (1988)

Founded in 670, the city of Kairouan flourished under the dynasty Aghlabids, in the ninth century. Despite the transfer of the political capital to Tunis in the twelfth century, Kairouan remained the first holy city of the Maghreb. Its rich architectural heritage includes the Great Mosque with its columns of marble and porphyry, and the mosque of the Three Doors, which dates from the ninth century.

Medina of Sousse (1988)

Qal'at al-Bahrain is a typical tell, i.e. an artificial mound created by many successive layers of human occupation. The stratigraphy of the Tell is of 300 meters by 600 to continuous human presence from about 2300 BC until the sixteenth century of our era. Nearly a quarter of the site has already been excavated, which revealed the structures of different types: residential, public, commercial, religious and military. They testify to the importance of the site, a trading port, over the centuries. At the top of the 12m high mound there is the impressive Portuguese fort, which gave its name to the entire site (Qal’at high). The site was the ancient capital of Dilmun, one of the most important ancient civilizations of the region. It contains the richest remains inventoried of this civilization, which was hitherto only known from written Sumerian references.

Dougga / Thugga (1997)

Before the Roman annexation of Numidia, the town of Thugga, built on a hill overlooking a fertile plain, was the capital of a state Libyco-Punic. It flourished under Roman and Byzantine rule, but declined during the Islamic period. The ruins visible today attest to how great the resources of a small Roman town on the borders of the Empire.

Ancient city of Shibam and the wall (1982)

Surrounded by a wall, this town of the sixteenth century is one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction. Its impressive structures shaped towers that rise out of the cliff have earned him his nickname "Manhattan of the desert."

Old City of Sana'a (1986)

Situated in a mountain valley at 2 200 m altitude, Sana'a has been inhabited for more than 2 500 years. For seventh and eighth centuries, the city became an important center for the propagation of Islam. The same religious and political heritage in its 106 mosques, 12 hammams and 6 500 houses, all built before the eleventh century. The tower houses the many floors and old adobe houses add to the beauty of the site.

Zabid (1993)

The domestic and military architecture of this city and its urban plan make a site of outstanding archaeological and historical. Besides being the capital of Yemen from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, the city played an important role in the Arab and Muslim world for centuries because of its Islamic university.

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