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Since the 1st Century, a new religion, Christianity, quickly spread around the whole Roman Empire. North Africa, from its large, cosmopolitan cities to its most remote rural areas, proved to be an especially fertile ground for the Christian Gospel. In this article, we will discover the main churches and other Christian archaeological remains that still exist today in Tunisia.
Series: Churches and Other Christian Buildings of Ancient North Africa – Tunisia – Libya – Algeria and Morocco
The Damous el-Karita Basilica, in Carthage, was the oldest and largest Christian church in the African capital. It is located in the Archaeological Site of Carthage, on the Odeon Hill. Its Arabic name, Damous el-Karita (داموس الكريطة), is probably a deformation of the Latin name domus caritatis, “house of charity”. The French historian and archaeologist Noël Duval describes this basilica as one of the “most famous ancient Christian monuments” in North Africa, but also one of the “most mistreated and badly known”, as it was excavated “incompletely [and] in disastrous conditions” (Noël Duval, Études d’architecture chrétienne nord-africaine). This is despite the fact that several very important episodes in the history of the Christian Church occurred here, including the Carthage III Council, in 397, which gave the final definition of the Biblical Canon (the books that were to be considered as sacred).
Three other important Carthagian churches are St-Cyprian’s Basilica, built at the place where Bishop Cyprian of Carthage was martyred, Basilica Majorum, which was destroyed, but later rebuilt identically in 1930, and the Bir el-Knissia Basilica.
The Bardo Museum, in Tunis, contains a vast collection of ancient Christian artifacts, that were found in Carthage and all over Tunisia. One of the main ones is the Mosaica of Daniel in the Lion’s Den, a rare example of African Christian monumental art, which can be seen on the cover picture of this article.
Christian archaeological remains are not limited to the region around Carthage, or even to major cities! Some churches have even been found on isolated sites in rural areas, like Henchir Rhira Basilica, in the Beja region. Its ruins are impressive, despite its isolation.
In Dougga, Victoria’s Church is the only Christian monument that has been discovered on this site up to now. This church was built on a former pagan cemetery. It is located over the Temple of Saturn.
The Thuburbo Majus archaeological site, close to Zaghouan, also contains a Christian church, built on the remains of a former Pagan temple. Its cross-shaped baptistery is typical of North African Christianity.
In Sousse, the Catacombs of the Good Shepherd contain close to 15.000 Christian tombs, with engravings that go back to the time when Christians practiced their faith in clandestinity.
In Bekalta, in the region of Monastir, a beautiful baptistery, richly adorned with mosaics, was found in 1993. It is now kept at the Sousse Archaeological Museum, where is constitutes one of the main pieces at the Department of Ancient Christianity. Another baptistery, found at the Church of Priest Felix, in Demna, close to Kelibia, is now kept at the Bardo Museum, in Tunis.
The Makhtar Basilica is the city’s former Roman Basilica (court of law), that was transformed into a church. Former civil buildings transformed into churches are common all around the Roman world; the main church of a Roman city, which served as siege of the bishop, was called Basilica, like the civil building.
The Vandals are a Germanic people who dominated Africa from 439 to 533. They were Christian, but followed the Arian doctrine, which was considered heretical by the indigenous North African Church. Henchir el Gousset, close to Thelepte, in the Kasserine Governorate, is the only Vandal city that remains until today. It church, which was inaugurated in 521, under the Vandal King Thrasamund, is one of the few Vandal churches in North Africa. Another Vandal church is the Basilica of Hildeguns, in Makhtar.
St-Peter’s Basilica, in El Kef, also known as Dar El Kous, is a 5th-Century church in El Kef. It is dedicated to St-Peter, an apostle of Christ. This ancient church is so remarkably well-preserved that it was put into new use as a place of worship during the French Protectorate.
The ruins of the ancient city of Sufetula (Sbeitla) contain several churches: the Bellator, Vitalis, and St-Sylvanus and Fortunatus Basilicas, the (probably Donatist) Church of Servus, and the Jucundus Chapel.
Finally, the Byzantine site of Ammaedra (Haidra), at the Tunisian-Algerian border, contains several churches. The biggest ist the Melleus Basilica.
There are many other sites, but we chose to select the main ones in order to avoid overcharging this article.
