El Djem ( or El Jem) - Tunisia
It is a popular tourist destination in Tunisia. It is the home to the world's second largest coliseum and located in the interior of central Tunisia between the Sfax and Sousse cities and illustrates the grandeur and extent of Imperial Rome. Its a one hour drive by car from both towns. The coliseum is 114 meters wide and 138 meters long with an estimated seating capacity of 30,000 to 35,000 spectators.
El Djem is mainly an agricultural town with about 7,000 inhabitants, olive oil and wheat are the main products of this area. today the site is surrounded by houses of local people, so its difficult to imagine its importance during the Roman era. The overall state of coliseum is good and was used to make a portion of The Gladiator movie.
The El Djem coliseum was built around 200 AD by emperor Gordian and completed it in 238 AD. Stones were quarried from a distance of 50 km for its construction. It is believed that the construction of the amphitheatre was never fully finished due to lack of funds and overall difficulty in availability of basic materials in this area. In 1695 Muhammad Bey blew up a few sections of El Djem coliseum to drive supporters of Ali Bey out. This El Djem amphitheatre was possibly a place where the gladiators and animals were involved in bloody battle for the entertainment of the royals and the people. The archeological museum has a collection of spectacular mosaics. You can climb up the stairs and take pictures of the amphitheatre and local surroundings.
