Tarragona

If you are a fan of ancient history, you must visit Tarragona. This place is so steeped in it, you can’t escape it even for a minute. I wonder what it must be like to live day-to-day with so much history all around, where around every corner there is yet another reminder that this city has stood here for centuries, nay, for millennia! It really is quite wonderful and yet almost overwhelming. I remember touching a wall in Sevilla back in 2011 thinking “wow, this is an old wall, I’m touching history,” and yet that wall, a mere 750 years old, has nothing on the walls of Tarragona. Tarragona is old, very old.

The actual date of Tarragona’s founding isn’t known but most date it to at least the 5th century BCE and some even earlier. Located around 100km south-southwest of Barcelona, it was once the capital of a Roman province and Caesar Augustus overwintered there after his Cantabrian campaign, around 24 BCE. After the Roman Empire fell, Tarragona changed hands every time a new power came by looking: the Vandals made an appearance, the Visigoths too. It was then an important border town of the Caliphate of Córdoba between 750 and 1013. After the fall of the Caliphate, it was a part of the Taifa of Zaragoza, under the control of the Almoravid dynasty, then taken over by the County of Barcelona. From County of Barcelona to Principality of Catalonia to the Crown of Aragorn to the Spanish Empire, As Spain changed, so did Tarragona. I’m just happy that all this “progress” didn’t destroy all the monuments, though many parts of the old city were built using stones and bricks from its earlier incarnations and much of what we can see now had to be excavated.

I took the train there (big surprise, right?) … it was another Regional Express from Barcelona-Sants station, though this time going south. One of the things I liked right away was the fact that I could see the sea from the train almost the whole way. Seeing it (and the beaches) made me wish I had brought some beach-friendly gear. Unfortunately, while I was ready for a lot of walking, I wasn’t quite prepared for the heat, especially since the first place on my agenda was close to the train station but all up a hill with not one shade-giving tree in sight. I had my work cut out for me. Fortunately, however, when I did get to the top, the view was quite stunning.

The Amfiteatre de Tarragona was built by the Romans in the 2nd century CE, outside of the city walls facing the sea, and it could accommodate, believe it or not, 15,000 people! That’s double what the Save-on-Foods Memorial Arena in Victoria can seat, though I’m sure the Arena seats are way more comfortable. Its early use was as the scene of fights between gladiators and against wild beasts, as well as public executions, followed by the persecution and sacrifice of early Christians in the 3rd century. Over the years, many different religious (and otherwise) buildings were built on this site; it was basically used as a quarry for many of Tarragona’s churches. I would like to think it is again being used for some (non-violent) performances, but I get the sense that is not the case. A shame, really.

From there I kept climbing up the side of the hill to the next attraction, which was, literally, just across the street. Did I mention Tarragona is built on hills? No, well, it’s built on hills and according to my watch I climbed a lot of stairs that day even though some of it was just the changing elevation.

I may sound like I know the history of these (and other) places really well but I do have the bad habit of doing very little research on the town I’m going to visit ahead of time–I probably should do more–and I’m sure I miss things because I don’t prepare, but I also think it’s fun to just go and discover stuff. Divagating is a thing for me, as you may have noticed by now. So of course I had no idea what this thing was as I crested the edge of the gardens around the amphitheatre. Being very drawn by old-looking things, I crossed the street to get a closer look. To my delight it was one of the (many) monuments in the city, and, more specifically, one of three I could see all for a very reasonable combined price of €13. Without meaning to I got myself a ready-made itinerary.

In the 14th century, the walled area of the mediaeval city located in present-day Tarragona’s High Quarter, and already behind Roman walls, was enlarged to include the area of the old Roman circus through the construction of the Muralleta, or Small Wall. This segment of the wall was reinforced with several towers, of which only the Monges and Tintoré towers remain today. Torre de les Monges (or Tower of the Nuns) is named after a local convent. When I first walked in I thought I would have to climb it but rather than going up, I was faced with a rather cool (and cold) looking tunnel. The tower, it seems, was just for looks now, and the more interesting bits lay at ground level or below.

To be honest, I couldn’t quite figure out what I was looking at yet. I could tell this was a place of some antiquity but it really wasn’t clear to me what it all would have looked like 2,000 years ago. It was only after I found this page that things started to make more sense. Where I was walking was the space underneath the Roman circus, i.e. the Vaults of St. Hermenegild, where, over the years, various things were stored (some not so pleasant, it seems). Only when I came out on the other side of the passage and climbed up a bit outside to the open area, did I realize that I was at the level of the sand-covered arena where the locals were entertained by horse and chariot races. This part was the head of the circus and by circus (I mean the race track and not the circus with clowns) where the spectator seats where. At the other end would have been the place the horses started from. Unfortunately it’s not quite clear to me where that part was since the city was built on top of it. I’d like to imagine that where I was sitting down and having my lunch was in fact right in front of the race track and therefore, if I closed my eyes, I could “see” the chariots speeding around the circus right in front of me. I’d like to believe I wasn’t too far off and looking at the map suggests I’m probably pretty damn close.

Remember that first tower and my thoughts of climbing it? Well, this was the other one, Torre del Pretori, though it didn’t really feel like a tower yet, with part of it being the Museu d’Història de Tarragona. Everything was fine and quite interesting until I decided to climb the stairs up to the tower. The space inside was quite open, there was even an elevator which I was not allowed to use. I started up the stairs only to find that, by the first landing, I was having some difficulty … no, not with the climbing, but with the actual stairs, which all of a sudden started to feel very rickety and unsafe although clearly hundreds and thousands of people had climbed them before me. It must have been the lack of risers and a clear view to the many feet of empty space below … As I was going up and up I was also getting more and more panicky! I could not believe it. When I arrived at the first level, almost hyperventilating, I was relieved to see that the floor there was pretty solid (and a few feet thick). Being a museum and all there were things to see, but as soon as I was done I decided I was, indeed, done, and went back down the stairs to the main level to skip this part of the tour. Going down was much easier, believe me. Imagine my surprise when I asked about the exit and was told I had to go up again, the exit was not only up there, it was on level 2, the level I didn’t reach because of the panic attack. There was only one way out! I tried to convince the museum folks to let me use the elevator, but something definitely got lost in translation (I used my bad knees as an excuse for needing the lift, not my irrational fear) and they reluctantly let me use it but only to the first level. I realized then that I would have to conquer my fear after all or else be stuck in this place forever! Muttering under my breath (thank you mask for hiding that) and sweating profusely from the mental effort, I started up, determined to not be a chicken-shit. Since I am writing this some time later, it is clear I did, in fact, climb all the way up to the top and not die. I also definitely do not regret it. The view from up there was amazing! The only thing I wonder about though, is how do people with mobility issues or people with kids strollers enjoy this place? Sure, you can take the elevator up (and there are plenty of ramps elsewhere), but to get out you now need to go down many, many, many stairs! (Yes, yes, I’m sure those lovely museum people let them take the damn elevator back down … I guess I just didn’t want to look quite so pathetic and took the other stairs down.)

After all this excitement I was ready for lunch so I chose a restaurant in the Plaça de Fòrum and ordered a very refreshing clara. All I could think about while sitting there were those chariots zipping by almost 2,000 years ago. It was quite the rush. However, there is no rest for the wicked, as I had two more historic monuments to see. In the hot afternoon sun I did a little walkabout through the old streets of Parte Alta (High Quarter), around the cathedral, along the old wall. The monument I was looking for was the Muralles Romanes de Tarragona or the Roman Wall of Tarragona. The Wall that remains is the north part of the old wall, and where you get to walk is called Passeig Arqueològic (Archeological Walk) which I find to be such a lovely way to put it. And it is a lovely walk: on one side you have the ancient wall, on the other spectacular views, and in the middle green space, benches, and kitty cats. The path went on for a while, always uphill (of course), and before long it dawned on me that when the fellow who sold me the ticket drew on my map a line with an arrow, it actually meant that the exit is right back where I was a half hour earlier, way back at the top of the hill behind the cathedral! My step count for the day was going to be awesome! I exited the Passeig through a back gate and started my walk back down the hill.

But there was one more place to visit! After grabbing an ice cream and taking a short break to rest the feet, I found the last place on my list: the Fòrum Romà, the Colonial Forum of Tarraco, where the city’s business happened back in antiquity. There isn’t much left after so many years of wars and invasions and fires, but what remains brings the ancients up close. What I found the most striking weren’t so much the ruins themselves, but rather the ease with which the residents of Tarragona live alongside history. I hope they, at least occasionally, look upon the ruins in their neighbourhoods and feel what I felt: total awe and a connection to something bigger than themselves.

The takeaway from this visit is that Tarragona is a beautiful city and I want to go back and see more of the local historical attraction I did not have a chance to visit. One of those is the Aqüeducte de les Ferreres, built in the 1st century, and just a few kilometres north of the old city. There are other cool places, too, but they will have to wait a bit still … maybe I’ll have to shortlist Tarragona as potential long-term destinations!

I took the train back to Barcelona, and as has become my custom now, walked to the apartment. My tally for the day was over 11km which is quite far for my knees and feet, but it felt good to do. Every outing like this exhausts me physically but also fills me with memories of amazing places, beautiful vistas, and plenty of cold claras. I can’t ask for much more than that.