TunisiaTourismTV - The ancient city of Carthage was supplied with water by huge tanks: the Cisterns of La Maalga which can still be seen on the edge of town.
They extend over approximately 13 hectares. With a capacity of 44,000 m3, the set of cisterns was the biggest water tank in the entire Roman world.
They are part of the hydraulic complex of Zaghouan-Carthage which has been inscribed on the Tentative List of the UNESCO in order to be declared a World Heritage property.
The Cisterns of La Maalga are composed of 16 vaulted tanks of about a hundred meters long each.
The water was supplied by an aqueduct that started at the mount Zaghouan, 56 km away from Carthage.
In Zaghouan, we can still see the remains of the sanctuary protector of the spring: the Water Temple.
The aqueduct led to Carthage after a long detour: it stretches a total of 130 km. It has retained impressive arcades (see the Aqueduct of Zaghouan in video).
The Aqueduct of Zaghouan also supplied the astonishing Baths of Antoninus, the biggest Roman baths in Africa (see the video).
The Cisterns, the Temple of the Waters, the Aqueduct and the Baths allow us to imagine the size and the splendor of Carthage: it was the biggest city of the Western Roman empire after Rome.
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