The basilica of Damous El Karita is an ancient basilica, located in Carthage, in modern Tunisia, dating from the Late antiquity and the Byzantine epoch. It is situated nearby the Odeon hills within the archeological site of Carthage.

Most important and known Christian architectural complex within the capital of the Roman province of Africa, it is according to Noël Duval "one of the most important Christian monuments" but also "most abused and poorly known".Noël Duval, « Études d’architecture chrétienne nord-africaine », Mélanges de l’École française de Rome: Antiquité, vol. 84, n°84-2, 1972, pp. 1107-1108 The architectural complex, indeed was one of the most important architectural Christian cultural ensembles of North Africa from the late antiquity up to the late middle-ages. The entire ensemble was composed of 2 churches, at least one martyrium, several Hypogeums as well as a subterran rotunda with a complex interpretation.Noël Duval, « Les monuments de culte chrétien et les cimetières [de Carthage] », Encyclopédie berbère, tome XII, éd. Edisud, Aix-en-Provence, 1993, p. 1808

The importance of the complex suggests that the place was not only a funerary center but also a major pilgrimage site linked to the cults of the saints buried in this place as well as of important religious festivals.

The identification of the basilica is complex but, following recent works, some authors accept the identification with a basilica known by literary sources as the basilica Fausti .

Etymology

The current name of the basilica comes from a deformation of the Latin or "house of charity".André Laronde et Jean-Claude Golvin, L’Afrique antique, éd. Taillandier, Paris, 2001, p. 176

Plan The ensemble as of the 1990s is still incompletely searched. The known surface of the complex is, however of 15000 m2 from which 2925 m2 constitutes the quadratum populi.Paul Corbier et Marc Griesheimer, op. cit., p. 279

Basilica

The most massive element of the complex is a church with nine (then eleven) naves, from which the largest measures 12.80 metres and eleven bays whose pillars have Corinthian capitals, the barrels of the columns are made out of green marble and the bases out of white marble. The main building is oriented South-West- North-EastAlfred Louis Delattre, La Basilique de Damous El-Karita à Carthage, p. 6 and measures 65 metres over 45.

Rotunda

The most important element of the known appendices is located in the southwest : It is a subterran rotunda, having an interior diameter of 9.15 metres Noël Duval, « Études d’architecture chrétienne nord-africaine », p. 1113 with a cupola. Two symmetrical stairs,Alfred Louis Delattre, « Les fouilles de Damous-el-Karita », p. 474 vaulted and in square permit the access; the ceiling is still partially covered with tubes of terracotta. The corridor is 10.40 metres long and forms an angle before giving access to the underground room. In the past, one corridor permitted entry while the other permitted exit according to Delattre and based on the interpretation of a mosaic found nearby.Alfred Louis Delattre, « Les fouilles de Damous-el-Karita », pp. 475-476

See also

Basilica of Saint-Cyprien

References