The Museum of Late Roman and Early Christian Art at the Carthage-Dermech archaeological site reopened its doors on the evening of Wednesday, December 3, 2025, following extensive renovation works that began in April 2024. The reopening ceremony was attended by Minister of Cultural Affairs, Amina Srarfi, alongside scientific officials from the National Heritage Institute (INP), the Agency for Heritage Development and Cultural Promotion (AMVPPC), experts involved in the museum’s redesign, and representatives of foreign embassies in Tunisia.
According to the new museum guidebook authored by researchers Nejib Ben Lazreg and Sihem Aouadi, the revitalized museum stands as a key site for understanding the evolution of Carthage during the late Roman and early Christian periods. It showcases documented archaeological finds related to religious architecture, civic spaces, and spiritual practices from that era.
First established in 1984 under UNESCO’s International Campaign to Save Carthage, the museum was a collaborative project involving institutions like the Kelsey Museum at the University of Michigan. It was overseen by Tunisian curator Abdelmajid Ennabli and American archaeologist John Humphrey, with funding from Earthwatch. Its distinctive architectural and museographic design was the work of Patrick Anselme, Emmanuel Balligand, and James Richter. Unique from its inception, the museum has displayed scientific excavation findings directly in situ, making it a vital research reference.
A Journey Through Four Centuries of Christian Carthage
Located in the northern suburbs of the capital, the museum sits atop a site rich with archaeological layers revealing the city’s successive transformations. The updated museum features a comprehensive visitor circuit, allowing the public to discover the large Byzantine church, measuring over 36 meters long and 25.5 meters wide. This five-aisled church with eight apses features geometric mosaic floors, some elements of which were crafted in Constantinople and brought to Carthage. The church was built over an older religious structure dating to the late 4th century, a fact clearly visible in the excavated fill layers and architectural elements.
A highlight of the exhibition is a baptismal font, featuring a square plan with an octagonal core and a central cruciform basin, surrounded by a circular ambulatory and spiral columns of Chemtou marble. Researchers Ben Lazreg and Aouadi note this reflects the spiritual importance the church placed on the baptismal rite. The museum also reveals a comprehensive ecclesiastical complex discovered between 1976 and 1984, including residential rooms, small workshops, wells, cisterns, and passages linked to Carthage’s urban network, demonstrating continuous human use of the site even after the Arab conquest.
The museum houses two rare peacock mosaics—one discovered between 1970-71, the other in 1984—considered among the most beautiful Christian mosaics, symbolizing immortality and eternal life. The collection also includes a wide range of pottery, metal and bronze objects, and ancient coins, the oldest being a 3rd-century BC Punic coin bearing the famous horse symbol. A unique global treasure on display is the marble statue of “Ganymede Abducted by Zeus,” reassembled after being found broken into 17 pieces.
Official Highlights Cultural and Tourism Value
In a statement, Minister of Cultural Affairs Amina Srarfi emphasized that the museum’s reopening supports the path of heritage valorization, describing it as “small in size… but vast in its research value and the civilizational testimonies it contains.” She highlighted the ministry’s work to reopen closed museums across the country, enhance cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism to promote cultural tourism, and integrate heritage into educational curricula.
The Director General of the AMVPPC, Rabiaa Balfaqih, noted the agency recorded nearly one million Tunisian and foreign visitors in 2024 and aims for 1.5 million in 2025. She stressed the need to develop joint tourist itineraries with the Ministry of Tourism to attract a larger share of the 11 million tourists visiting Tunisia annually. She also announced artistic lighting projects for several sites, including the Colosseum of El Jem, and night visitation routes in several cities.
Dr. Sihem Aouadi, a member of the museum’s scientific team, explained the museum had closed twice before. For its 2025 reopening, the team worked to retrieve all approximately 400 artifacts previously stored in the Byrsa reserves and restore the museum to its original 1984 format while adding new sections.
INP Director General Tarek Bakouche stated the rehabilitation cost approximately 600,000 dinars. He confirmed the institute is working to reopen several previously closed museums while improving techniques for displaying collections and revalorizing museum holdings.
Visitor Information
The museum is open daily. Visitors can gain access with the unified “Carthage Card,” which permits entry to all archaeological sites in the area. Admission is free on the first Sunday of each month, on official national holidays, on April 18 (World Heritage Day), and on May 18 (International Museum Day).
Background: The museum has closed several times for redevelopment, including in 2010 and 2013. It reopened in June 2021 after a prolonged closure following the 2013 theft of the historic “Ganymede” statue, which was recovered in 2017. It closed again in March 2024 for maintenance and restoration works. These included interior renovations, the refurbishment of the storage room and curator’s office in October 2024, and paving and landscaping of the external perimeter in November 2024, at a total cost of 304,000 dinars.
TunisianMonitorOnline (NejiMed)
