El Jem

A Roman colosseum rising above a small town.

Nothing quite prepares you for the first sight of El Jem's amphitheatre, rising above the low houses of an ordinary market town. Built in the 3rd century, it could seat around 35,000 spectators and is among the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres anywhere. UNESCO listed it in 1979.

Walk the tunnels beneath the arena, then climb to the upper tiers for the scale of it. In summer, the amphitheatre hosts an international symphonic music festival, and the acoustics under the stars are unforgettable.

Highlights

• The amphitheatre

• The underground passages

• The summer symphonic music festival

• The archaeological museum's mosaics

Best for: History, architecture, music

Photo: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0