Tarragona is located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. Even if you are in Spain, you can feel the roman flavours everywhere, including food (e.g. pizza, cappucino) or architecture (e.g. the palace of Augustus, the amphitheatre, the tower of Scipios). You can say it’s the Roman corner of Catalonia.
In Roman times, the city was named Tarraco and was capital of the province of Hispania Tarraconensis (after being capital of Hispania Citerior in the Republican era).
The Roman ruins of Tarraco have been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Part of the bases of large Cyclopean walls near the Cuartel de Pilatos are thought to pre-date the Romans. The 2nd century amphitheatre, near the sea-shore, was extensively used as a quarry after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Throughout the town Latin, and even apparently Phoenician, inscriptions on the stones of the houses mark the material used for buildings in the town.
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