Tarragona

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For the municipality in the Philippines, see Tarragona, Davao Oriental.

History

In Roman times, the city was named Tarraco (Ταρρακών in Ptolemy, ii. 6. § 17) and was capital of the province of Hispania Tarraconensis (after being capital of Hispania Citerior in the Republican era). The Roman colony founded at Tarraco had the full name of Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco.

Smith suggests that the city was probably founded by the Phoenicians, who called it 'Tarchon, which, according to Bochart, means a citadel. This name was probably derived from its situation on a high rock, between 700 and 800 feet above the sea; whence we find it characterised as arce potens Tarraco. (Auson. Class. Urb. 9; cf. Mart. x. 104.) It was seated on the river Sulcis or Tulcis (modern Francolí), on a bay of the Mare Internum (Mediterranean Sea), between the Pyrenees and the river Iberus (modern Ebro). (Mela, ii. 6; Plin. iii. 3. s. 4.) Livy (xxii. 22) mentions a portus Tarraconis; and according to Eratosthenes (ap. Strabo iii. p. 159) it had a naval station or roads (Ναύσταθμον); but Artemidorus (ap. Strab. l. c.; Polyb. iii. 76) says with more probability that it had none, and scarcely even an anchoring place; and Strabo himself calls it ἀλίμενος. This answers better to its present condition; for though a mole was constructed in the 15th century with the materials of the ancient amphitheatre, and another subsequently by an Englishman named John Smith, it still affords but little protection for shipping. (Ford's Handbook of Spain, p. 222.) Tarraco lay on the main road along the south coast of Spain. (Itin. Ant. pp. 391, 396, 399, 448, 452.) It was fortified and much enlarged by the brothers Publius and Gnaeus Scipio, who converted it into a fortress and arsenal against the Carthagenians. Subsequently it became the capital of the province named after it, a Roman colony, and conventus juridicus. (Plin. l. c.; Tac. Ann. i. 78; Solin. 23, 26; Polyb. x. 34; Liv. xxi. 61; Steph. B. p. 637.)

Augustus wintered at Tarraco after his Cantabrian campaign, and bestowed many marks of honor on the city, among which were its honorary titles of Colonia Victrix Togata and Colonia Julia Victrix Tarraconensis. The city also minted coins. (Grut. Inscr. p. 382; Orelli, no. 3127; coins in Eckhel, i. p. 27; Florez, Med. ii. p. 579; Mionnet, i. p. 51, Suppl. i. p. 104; Sestini, p. 202.) According to Mela (l. c.) it was the richest town on that coast, and Strabo (l. c.) represents its population as equal to that of Carthago Nova (modern Cartagena). Its fertile plain and sunny shores are celebrated by Martial and other poets; and its neighborhood is described as producing good wine and flax. (Mart. x. 104, xiii. 118; Sil. Ital. iii. 369, xv. 177; Plin. xiv. 6. s. 8, xix. 1. s. 2.)

Ancient remains

There are still many important ancient remains at Tarragona. Part of the bases of large Cyclopean walls near the Quartel de Pilatos are thought to be anterior to the Romans. The building just mentioned, a prison in the 19th century, is said to have been the palace of Augustus. But Tarraco, like most other ancient towns which have continued to be inhabited, has been pulled to pieces by its own citizens for the purpose of obtaining building materials. The amphitheatre near the sea-shore has been used as a quarry, and but few vestiges of it now remain. A circus, 1500 feet long, is now built over it, though portions of it are still to be traced. Throughout the town Latin, and even apparently Phoenician, inscriptions on the stones of the houses proclaim the desecration that has been perpetrated. Two ancient monuments, at some little distance from the town, have, however, fared rather better. The first of these is a magnificent aqueduct, which spans a valley about a mile from the gates. It is 700 feet in length, and the loftiest arches, of which there are two tiers, are 96 feet high. The monument on the northwest of the city, and also about a mile distant, is a Roman sepulchre, commonly called the "Tower of the Scipios"; but there is no authority for assuming that they were buried here. (Cf. Ford, Handbook, p. 219, seq.; Florez, Esp. Sagr. xxix. p. 68, seq.; Miñano, Diccion. viii. p. 398.)

Modern Tarragona

Tarragona is home to one of the most important ports in Spain. Tarragona is also the home of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili.

Tarragona tourist attractions include the Museum of Archaeology and the Roman ruins of Tarraco, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Tarragona is located near the holiday resort of Salou and the Universal Studios theme park Port Aventura, one of the largest in Europe. Tarragona has a wall surrounding the old city. There are two gates through the wall of Tarragona: the Portal del Roser and the Portal de Sant Antoni.

Image:Tarragona Ampitheatre.jpg|Tarragona Ampitheatre Image:Spain.Tarragona.Portal.Sant.Antoni.00.A.jpeg|Portal de Sant Antoni Image:Tarragona.Via.Imperial.jpg|Via Imperial Image:TarragonaTorreScipioni.jpg|Torre del Escipión

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1857).

See also

• Archdiocese of Tarragona.

External links

• [Virtual visit to Tarragona] (in Catalan)
• [More images of Tarragona](in Catalan)
• [[wikitravel:| travel guide]] from Wikitravel
• [Tarragona] on Placeopedia
• [Tarragona Flickr Pool (fotos)]

World Heritage Sites in Spain

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