Day 7 Touring Diocletien Palace And Tozeur

Today we had 2 separate tours. Our morning tour took us back the the centre of the city to visit the Diocletien Palace. He was the Roman emperor in the 2nd century. We have seen many Roman ruins over the years but this was quite different because it was a whole palace and defensive position all in one. The surface portion of the palace was destroyed and has been completely built with “modern” buildings built on the ruins of the palace. A few things do remain of the original structure. The surrounding wall and 4 main gates are still intact. We walked the entire fortification which not only was a palace but a town with housing for the Roman guards, workers, etc.

The part that was most impressive was the underground or foundation of the palace. All the rubble from over the years had been dumped into that area which has now been excavated. The foundations were enormous. The photo gives you a limited idea of the scope of these rooms. It was used in roman times to store the goods that were brought in by sea. Originally one side of the fortification was along the sea wall. Today that original area had been filled in. It now a very wide promenade. You do get an idea of how large the upper rooms were as the “basement” walls supported the walls of the upper buildings. The workmanship and building techniques are really on display.

The surface area of the palace although it has been rebuilt over the centuries still has a certian ancient feel to it. About 3000 people still live inside this palace but it is filled with all types of shops, hotel rooms, restaurants etc. However parts of the original temples can be seen. You do get a good impression of the entire complex. All 4 main gates are still intact so the entire palace can be entered from one of the 4 gates. The east west gates lead to a road that intersects the north south road. We did have some free time to walk around so we wandered a bit, found a gelato shop and then just sat and watch the boats in the harbour until we left.

After returning to the hotel for a short break we were off to Tozeur. It is a small outlying settlement from Spit. As everything along this coast, it has a long history of Roman, Venetian and Ottoman settlement. It guards the entrance to Spit. It reminded us of a medina that we saw in Tunisia. There were small shops, churches, narrow streets and plenty of restaurants of all kinds. It was filled with tourist from the smaller tour boats. There were were at least 3 alongside. The town is close to the airport and it is a perfect jumping off point for cruise ships that are going to visit the small ports along the coast. Dinner tonight was in one of the many restaurants in the area. It had good food and service. We are on the move north tomorrow.