The ancient city of Uthina lies about thirty kilometres to the south of the capital, at what is known as Oudna, on a knoll overlooking the main access routes to Carthage from the south and west of the country. Its foundation seems to date to the Libyc (or Berber) period as attested by the place name. Following the course of History, it became Punic then Roman before being briefly Vandal and Byzantine, for no more than a century each, and then falling into final decline after the Arab conquest in the VIIth century.

The protected site extends over about a hundred hectares. It is dotted with imposing constructions dating to the Roman period now under excavation and consolidation. These include the capitol, the largest of Africa, built on three levels; two groups of large capacity cisterns; large public baths and small private baths; vestiges of patrician villas, an amphitheatre partially dug into the ground with a capacity of above 10.000 spectators.

Excavation campaigns undertaken on the site since the end of the XIXth century have revealed many pieces dating to the Punic, Roman and Arab periods. Uthina has also given the Bardo Museum a collection of mosaic pavements of unsurpassed workmanship.

Now that the site of Oudna has been designated an archaeological park it is being equipped with the necessary infrastructure to turn it into a true tourist centre: a waymarked circuit, proper signposting, a site museum, a visitor’s centre, a shop.