Feradi Maggiore, is an archaeological site is located near the village of Sidi Khelifa near the city of Bouficha in the governorate of Sousse, Tunisia. During the Roman Empire it was a civitas of the Roman province of Byzacena. Its existence dates back at least to the third century BC. The city became municipality under Marcus Aurelius then Roman colony before being abandoned towards the 12th century. The name of the city was identified thanks to a Latin text of a dedication to Neptune Augustus for the salvation of the Roman emperorAntoninus Pius and which was signed by a local notable named Marcus Barigbalus Pheraditanus Majus.
Ruins
The ruins include a forum, triumphal arch and church buildings. The most important monuments of the site were built between the end of the 2nd century and the beginning of the 3rd century:
The thermal baths excavated in 1972 cover an area of approximately 500 m². They include, like all monuments of this type, a vestibule, semi-circular latrines, a large mosaic-covered room, a frigidarium paved with mosaics with a basin in the apse, a tepidarium where there is a rectangular basin and A caldarium with two apses;
The forum is surrounded by porticos on three sides. The door of the forum is an arch that rests on two foot-rights flanked by two niches that can shelter statues of divinities. The vault of one of the niches bears insignia: stems of millet, ivy, crown with five points, & c. ;
The market can be described roughly as an irregular rectangle with a courtyard surrounded by a paved portico;
The nymphaeum is indicated by a beautiful arcade with five arches sheltering five basins. The spring sprang from the bottom of one of the basins, a sixth larger basin allowing the evacuation of water to other buildings such as thermal baths and cisterns;
The religious complex is located on a hill and was long identified as a fortress. Consisting of several temples built with large blocks of stones, this monument preserves only the basement with two floors of rooms and vaults, the upper floor totally disappeared having been lit by three windows that looked out to the sea.
Bishopric
The ancient town was also the cathedra of the Diocese of Feradi Maggiore a home suppressed and titular of the Catholic Church. Only two documented bishops of Feradi Maggiore are known.
