Kerkuane lies in the ‘far’ northeast of Tunisia. I went there by rental car from Bizerte, which turned out to be an ‘interesting’ drive of about 200km. It is slow going, as you have to cross numerous towns and there is a lot of slow traffic on the road including horse carts and flocks of sheep. The landscape isn’t as pretty as near Dougga, but the numerous olive groves easily outdo the ones in Andalusia. Near Erritiba, there was a nasty surprise – the road was blocked for some reason, with police around and many onlookers. I had to make a large detour to finally arrive at Kerkuane after 5(!) hours.

The archaeological site has a pleasant setting right at the sea and I welcomed the breeze that comes with it. It takes about an hour to explore. It needs a bit of TLC (or more funds), as several of the excavated parts are now overgrown with weeds. The information panels were barely readable. Under a protective shelter lies its most precious treasure: the House of Tanit, with the sign of the goddess Tanit placed in front of its entrance for good luck (pictured).

There is a 2nd location as well, a Necropolis from the 6th-3rd centuries B.C., about 5km away from the main site. It is a bit hard to find when you don’t know what you’re looking for. I made it by car to where Google Maps has it marked but saw nothing. Fortunately, Svein came to the rescue in our whatsapp group. You have to go uphill on the unpaved road for some 20 meters, and then there’s a broken fence that you have to step through. This location has no security at all and seems to have been forgotten about. It’s a far cry from Tunisia’s other WHS locations which usually are organized neatly with a parking lot, a kiosk to buy your ticket with pricing displayed, friendly and helpful staff, clean toilets, and a prominent UNESCO sign.