Tunisians re-discover virtues of Zaghouan’s spring waters during Ramadan
TUNISIAONLINENEWS- Historians tell that during the first period of the Roman occupation of Carthage, the Romans similarly top their predecessors, contented themselves by using rain water collected in cisterns.
An exceptional period of drought which hit the province from 123 to 128 BC , prompted the Emperor Hadrian to make use of the many springs existing in the area of Zaghouan. He then decided to channel the precious water to Carthage by building an impressive aqueduct whose glorious remnants can still be admired.
Later, the Hafsides also conveyed Zaghouan’s water to the Ezzitouna Mosque, as well as to the ‘Abi Fihr’ gardens at Ras al Tabia, in Tunis, via the aqueduct.
Nowadays, the name for good water in Tunisia is ‘the water of Zaghouan ’ or “Mayet Zaghouan” in Tunisian Arabic.
It is therefore not surprising today to see hundreds of people gathering at Zaghouan’s mountain spring (Djebel Zaghouan) to collect a bottle of the precious water during the month of Ramadan, just before the breaking of the fast.
Indeed, Zaghouan’s mineral spring water which surges from two main sources, the Nympheum and Ain Ayed, is considered as one of the purest in the country, endowed with many curative properties.
Currently, there are plans afoot to give a new birth to the “Water Road” from Zaghouan to Carthage, as part of a major ecological project which will cost some 4 million dinars.
During the Roman period, the total length of the aqueduct linking Zaghouan to Carthage was 132 km. The aqueduct carried a daily water volume of some 32,000 cubic meters, catering at the time, for most of Carthage’s needs.
Photo shows Zaghouan’s water temple.
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