Site Presentation

Director: Alaa El-Habaski, ARCE
June 2005 - August 2010

This vast site of a Roman harbor town on the Mediterranean coast has undergone conservation work to make it accessible and comprehensible to the public. The project also aims to protect and preserve the site by permitting public visitation in an organized and controlled way.

Under the direction of Agnieszka Dobrowolska, a huge volume of construction debris and excavation dumps were removed, and some of it turned into an artificial hill allowing a panoramic view. Electric lighting has been installed along pathways throughout the site.

One of the ancient streets incorporated in the visitors’ itinerary was filled with stone blocks from buildings on both sides when they collapsed in an earthquake in antiquity. With meticulous recording, it was possible to identify the original positions of all the blocks in the walls. This permitted anastylosis, i.e. rebuilding of the walls, complete with doors and windows, from the original material, with each stone put back in its original location.

The site opened to tourists in September 2010.