Underground in Bulla Regia

Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, in the North-East corner of Tunisia is an amazing underground site. Although what remains is a well preserved Roman town, Greek and Carthaginian relics have been discovered there.

In the intense heat of North Africa and the middle East, it isn't unusual for people to have built down into the ground rather than upwards - there are the more famous troglodyte caves in Matmata - and so it's not suprising that the Romans building here would have adopted the same principle.

The rooms underground were, unsurprisingly, cool and a blessed relief after spending time in the scorching heat outside. They were also quite large and subsequently not too claustrophobic.