Testour

36.559.45Koordinaten: 36 ° 33 'N, 9 ° 27 ' E

Testour (Arabic تستور, Tastūr DMG ) is a town in northern Tunisia with about 23 500 inhabitants ( 2004). It is located about 77 kilometers west of Tunis on the eastern shore Medjerda. Testour was founded in the 16th century by exiled Spanish Moors on the ruins of ancient town of Tichilla.

Roman turbine mill in Testour

Among the achievements of the Romans included the construction of the turbine mills in the 3rd to 4th century. Muscle strength has been replaced here by water power and thus could probably ground all year round with these turbine mills cereal. Each of the mills had three grinders that were directly driven by three turbines.

To this end, Friedrich Rakob writes in the Ancient World, issue 4/ 1993:

" Since their discovery and reconstruction by J. and G. Röder the Roman turbine mill in ruins site of the Roman bridge of Medjerda Chemtou has remained unique in the first volume of the German - Tunisian excavation publication, to appear in October 1993, G. Röder has the significant difference of this system to other ancient mills presented in detail. Faster than expected, is formulated in the final sentence of her investigation hope that in the future would like more examples of this unusual technical innovation emerge, has been confirmed. "

In the Spanish of displaced Moors in the 16th century AD, founded on the ruins of ancient town of Tichilla Testour city, which lies 81 km west of Tunis on the right Medjerda shore and is crossed by the road to Dougga is the population below of a steep slope close to the river edge, spilled partly inaccessible ruins trusts, which was considered construction Andalusian architecture for the fulling of wool. The ruins remained of archaeological research for a long time unknown. In the spring of 1993 he discovered Uwe Bigalke, the resident Testour manager of a German company that the system can be fully compare with the also located on Medjerda - shore turbine mill in Chemtou / Simitthus. The mill building corresponds in its dimensions, construction technology and the details of the system in exactly Chemtou. As there, the ashlar work has been built of spolia on a heavy Caernenticium base of large pebbles. A water inlet of the three flumes is the northern canal broken away in the flood of 1979, its northern wall is now tilted horizontally in the river The second flume has unlike Chemtou nor his original plate cover, the third is spilled on the steep bank. But show remnants of the rising east wall of the mill building, the original size of the building. Clearly visible are the grooves for storage Protect and remains of the turbine round shafts that were covered over the wheel arch made ​​of limestone blocks with bricks. After the sign identical to the mill in Chemtou structural dimensions and details of the plant probably originated simultaneously with that in Simitthus. While there, the ruins of the Roman bridge situation could accumulate the Medjerda water, a storage channel appears in Testour after an upriver in shallow water clearly visible cuboid able to be created. The study of this new, important example of late antique technology was carried out in 2007. After further inspections, the researchers have come to the realization that it is not a storage channel, but probably a second plant. According to their assumptions, the plant was built either parallel to the other system was, or it was a predecessor that has the back pressure in the flow loop was not held.