Dougga (or Thugga) is a Roman city built on a 65-hectare site , on a hillside surrounded by olive groves in northern Tunisia . The city is marked as one of the most magnificent Roman monuments in North Africa that was announced a Unesco World Heritage site since 1997 . The city was built on the site of ancient Thugga , a Numidian settlement , which explains why the streets are so uncharacteristically tangled . What makes it exceptional are well-preserved monuments it encloses which mirrorits rich Punic , Numidian , ancient Roman and
Byzantine
history . Amongst the most famous monuments at the site are a Punic-Libyan Mausoleum , the Cisterns , the Church of Victoria , the House of Gorgon , the Arch of Septimus Severus , the Capitol , the Theatre , and the Temples of Augistine , of Saturn , of Mercury and of Juno Caelestis .
