TUNISIA ~Amphitheatre of El Jem - UNESCO ~

... Received a new unesco site...a beautiful piece of history, the largest Roman monument in Africa...I had never heard of it before...it looks stunning...Thanks a lot Xiaomin!!

From backside postcard:
"We like to tell the history, art, popular traditions and folklore of our land through splendid images."
The impressive ruins of the largest Colosseum in North Africa, a huge amphitheatre which could hold up to 35,000 spectators, are found in the small village of El Jem. This 3rd-century monument illustrates the grandeur and extent of Imperial Rome.

 El Jem amphitheatre is the 3rd larger on the world after Rome's and Verona's and even better preserved than Rome's. Now a small town in the middle of nowhere (well, at the edge of the desert), El Jem, the ancient Roman town of Thysdrus, was formerly a crossroads of the caravan trade and a very wealthy town.

The ruins of the amphitheatre were declared a World Heritage Site in 1979.

This site is also famous for filming some of the scenes from the Oscar winning film Gladiator.

Stamp:

Medicinal Plants Issued
(28-06-2011)