This quarter contains the largest number of vestiges of patrician houses discovered in the ancient metropolis. Although a clearly delineated portion of the paved street provides a clear idea of the layout of a Roman city, the surviving vestiges can only suggest a vague notion of the beauty and luxury of these residences built in tiers down a gently sloping hill to the seashore.

The house known as the “villa of the aviary”, the best conserved of the site, was restored to provide a reconstruction of the inside of an African Roman villa: rooms preceded by a portico supported by columns, surrounding a central courtyard containing a garden and paved with mosaics. The terrace provides a splendid view over the bay of Tunis.