[2][3] Ounga was a Phoenician and Carthaginian colony under the name Māqōm Ḥadash[4] (Punic: 𐤌𐤒𐤌𐤇𐤃𐤔, MQMḤDŠ, "New Place").

In ancient times, Ounga was the site of Christian activity that produced various religious buildings.

Historians, such as Tunisian archaeologist Zainab Benzina, state that a representative of the city of Younga, the bishop Valentinianus, attended the Council of Carthage (412).

Remains of the Roman town include three Byzantine basilicas,[9] city ramparts, a citadel, a vaulted cistern and crypts.

[10][11][12] The citadel was identified in 1944 by French archaeologist Louis Poinssot as the place described by Arab geographers Al Bakri and Al-Idrissi under the name of Kasr er-Roum (Castle of the Romans).