The Cisterns of La Malga or Cisterns of La Mâalga are a group of
cistern
A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster.
Cisterns are disti ...
s, which are among the most visible features of the archaeological site of
Carthage
Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...
near
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
,
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
. They are some of the best preserved
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
cisterns.
The cisterns, with a capacity of , received water from a branch of the
Zaghouan Aqueduct (exactly which branch remains uncertain). They were designed to provide the water supply for Carthage, the most important city of
Africa Proconsulare during the
High Empire, and especially to supply the
Baths of Antoninus
The Baths of Antoninus or Baths of Carthage, located in Carthage, Tunisia, are the largest set of Roman thermae built on the African continent and one of three largest built in the Roman Empire. They are the largest outside mainland Italy. The ...
.
As part of the site of Carthage, the cisterns are classified as a
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
. On 17 February 2012, the Tunisian government proposed that the whole Zaghouan-Carthage Roman hydraulic complex, of which they are a part, should be classed as a world heritage site.
History
The large, relatively well-preserved cisterns are located on the north side of the ancient Roman city. They were not the only largest cisterns of Carthage, but existed alongside others: the "basins of Hamilcar" and those located on the hill of Bordj Djedid.
From the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, the cisterns were used as makeshift houses, stables, barns or cellars by the local populations; a practice which continued until the twentieth century. For a long time this prevented archaeological investigation of the complex.
[Abdelmajid Ennabli et Hédi Slim, ''Carthage. Le site archéologique'', éd. Cérès, Tunis, 1993, p. 32]
According to
Al Idrisi, there were at least 24 cisterns in a single line, each with a length of 130
pace and a width of 26 pace - though
Henri Saladin considered this width too high. According to
Christian Tuxen Falbe, there were fifteen cisterns which were in width and four ruined cisterns a little to the west and each of these nineteen cisterns had a length of .
There is an active project to conserve and restore the site, and to develop a museum space devoted to it.
Description
The group of cisterns forms a rectangular space measuring x (). Each cistern is composed of a vaulted space, long, wide and high (excluding the vault), with a total capacity of . There are fifteen individual cisterns, which are separated from one another and arranged in parallel.
Each vault has about ten circular openings. A cistern which distributed water to the others is aligned perpendicular to the others. A subsidiary aqueduct derived from the
Zaghouan Aqueduct ran alongside the distribution cistern and supplied it with water through openings on its edge.
The presence of numerous circular openings on top of the each cistern's vault appear to be openings for water to escape through when the cisterns were too full or for collecting rain water. However, it is probable that the cisterns were actually surmounted by another level of tanks - in the same manner as
Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...
two-story reservoirs.
The large cisterns were relied upon by the vast
bath complex of Antoninus. The water flowed down from the cisterns to the baths through underground pipes.
[Azedine Beschaouch, ''La légende de Carthage'', coll. ]Découvertes Gallimard
(, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an Collection (publishing), editorial collection of Book illustration, illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in Pocket edition, ...
(n° 172), éd. Gallimard, Paris, 1993, p. 102
In the immediate neighbourhood of the cisterns are other important sites: the , the villa of Scorpianus and some mausoleums, one of which has been re-constructed in a special room of the
Bardo National Museum.
See also
*
List of Roman cisterns
The list of Roman cisterns offers an overview over Ancient Rome, Ancient Roman cisterns. Freshwater Reservoir, reservoirs were commonly set up at the termini of Roman aqueduct, aqueducts and their branch lines, supplying urban households, Villa ...
*
Carthage Punic Ports
The Carthage Punic Ports were the old ports of the city of Carthage that were in operation during Ancient history, ancient times. Carthage was first and foremost a thalassocracy, that is, a power that was referred to as an ''Empire of the Seas'' ...
References
External links
Jacques Vérité, « Le site de La Malga à Carthage », ''Bulletin du CEDAC'', n°10, 1989, pp. 41-47''Carthage romaine : 146 avant Jésus-Christ-698 après Jésus-Christ'' Auguste Audollent
Auguste Audollent (14 July 1864 – 7 April 1943) was a French historian, archaeologist and Latin epigrapher, specialist of ancient Rome, in particular the magical inscriptions ('' tabellæ defixionum''). His main thesis was devoted to ''Roman C ...
, éd. Fontemoing, Paris, 1901, p. 295
{{Portal, Water, Ancient Rome, History, Africa
La Malga
Carthage