President Ben Ali visits one of Tunisia 's oldest Roman sites, inaugurates ecological projects
Tunis , June 5, 2007 (TunisiaOnline)--On the occasion of the celebration of the National and World Environment Day, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali visited, on Tuesday, the city of Zaghouan where he inaugurated the urban park and the ecological museum, and inspected the progress of the restoration of the Water Temple area within the park.
These projects which are part of the great presidential projects, are meant to develop cultural and ecological tourism in a part of the country endowed with a rich historical and civilizational heritage of its own.
At the Zaghouan urban park, President Ben Ali inaugurated the ecological museum which notably contains explanatory tables and scale models displaying the great biological and geological diversity of the region, as well as the city's natural reserve riches in flora and fauna.
The museum also contains scale models of the historical and spiritual monuments, mountains caves and caverns, which are a favourite destination for researchers in this field, as well as aqueducts built during the Roman Era to forward water from Zaghouan's water springs to Carthage .
In order to preserve the wild, rare and threatened animal species living in the area, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali witnessed the release into their natural habitat, of a couple of wild gazelles, aimed at reintroducing this species into the "Jebel Zaghouan" national park.
The Head of State also focused his attention on the development of the Water Temple area which overlooks a two- hectare ecological garden and its central ecological theatre, through a presentation made by the Minister of Culture and Heritage Preservation.
The President of the Republic was briefed on the works carried out as part of the development of the Temple's environment and restoration of this site which is the starting point of the water aqueduct, built during the Roman Era. Covering a distance of 130 kilometres , the aqueduct was used by the Romans to transport Zaghouan's pristine and legendary spring waters to Carthage .
The Head of State stressed the necessity to safeguard the specificities of the Temple by relying on studies conducted in this respect, in such a manner as to make it a pole of attraction for the whole region and a destination for visitors and tourists.
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