El Jem

This is the road leading to the colosseum from the train station.

As with any attaction, there are many gift shops nearby. However, this one is particularly attractive.

The southern part of the colosseum is the most well preserved.

This colosseum is used for concerts in summer, which is why the northern seating has been restored.

This cross section clearly shows how the colosseum contains a series of concentric passages that run all the way around it.

This is the outer passage.

This is an inner passage.

This is the inner most passage.

Ruins showing the inner most passage and some outer walls.

In the ground are several of these stones with slits in them. They form vents which provide air and light into the underground passages. Obviously, not much light gets through, so would have been very dark.

These are the chambers underneath the middle of the colosseum. It is very bright because a metal grate has replaced what used to have been a stone roof.

The strip down the middle is a metal grate over the underground chambers.

View of El Jem from the colosseum. The train station is the white building at the end of the street (with the blue windows and slightly to the left).

This is a view from the top of the colosseum. As you can see, the colosseum is the highest structure in modern El Jem.