LARISCUS (Skhira) Tunisia.
Revealed in 1958 when a petroleum port was being built at the outlet of the Edjélé pipeline, the site is situated slightly W of the Cap de Skhira Kedima, 45 km from Maharès, in the Gulf of Gabès. The site has been identified as Lariscus, where Troglita and Antalas fought in 548.Explored and partially excavated in 1958 and 1959 along the pipeline, it was found to contain several pagan and Christian necropoleis and two basilicas. The larger of these latter stands on the edge of the site surrounded by other as yet unexplored remains. Built of materials of mediocre quality (unbaked bricks covered with coats of paint), it is nevertheless interesting because of its architecture and mosaic floors. Oriented SW-NE, the monument had five naves formed by four rows of nine columns and a quadratum populi (25 x 20.5 m) with a W apse (3.5 m x 4.7 m), and a facade fronted by a portico 3 m wide with two trefoil-shaped columns in front of the opening to the central nave. It had a wood and tile roof. The building underwent a number of changes, the chief one being the construction of a counter-apse in place of the first entrance (3.5 m deep and 5.4 m in diameter), and the addition of the mosaic floor. A mosaic in the apse shows a large chalice, with two symmetrical scrolls of vine leaves curling out of it. The panels of a raised platform beside the altar are decorated with medallions of deer and lambs.
Four m behind the apse and joined to the church by a vestibule is a baptistery. Its hall (11 x 9 m) consists of a double row of six columns supporting three naves. The basin, which is shaped like a Greek cross in an octagon inside a square, was surmounted by a cupola supported on four pillars. The floor of this room was paved with mosaic. Its panels, of various sizes and shapes, were decorated with geometric motifs except for the four panels opposite the entrance, which had a design of deer and jeweled Latin crosses.
Another, smaller basilica has also been excavated. Oriented N-E and measuring 20 x 11.35 m, it had three eight-bayed naves, a central apse, and a facade to the SE. Several tombs have been found inside and around this monument.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
M. Fendri, Basiliques chrétiennes de la Skhira (1961) (Publication de l'Université de Tunis, VIII).A. ENNABLI