170 / 344
164
through the lovely
cloisters
(
claustre
; signposted up a street to the left of the
facade), where among several oddly sculpted capitals, one represents a cat’s
funeral being directed by rats.
Tarragona has several museums – dedicated to modern art, old weapons, port
and harbour, and the noble Castellarnau family – but the only essential visit is
to the
Museu Nacional Arqueològic
(June–Sept Tues–Sat 9.30am–8pm, Sun
10am–2pm; Oct–MayTues–Sat 9.30am–6pm, Sun 10am–2pm; €2.40), off Plaça
del Rei. The huge collection is a marvellous reflection of the richness of
imperial Tarraco, with thematic displays on the various remains and buildings
around the city, as well as whole rooms devoted to inscriptions, mosaics,
sculpture, ceramics and jewellery.
The archeological museum is likely to set you off on the trail of the local
Roman sites, most grouped together under the umbrella of the Tarragona
History Museum and all with the same opening hours and admission details
(June–Sept Tues–Sat 9am–9pm, Sun 9am–3pm; Oct–May Tues–Sat 9am–5pm,
Sun 10am–3pm; each site €2.45, joint ticket to all €9.25). These start most
spectacularly with the
Pretori i Circ Romans
(entered from Plaça del Rei),
built at the end of the first century AD to hold chariot races.The circus vaults
and chambers have been restored to spectacular effect, while the Pretori tower
was a royal residence in medieval times. A lift takes you up to the roof for the
best view inTarragona, looking down over the
Amfiteatre
, built into the green
slopes of the hill nearby, to the coast below. As provincial capital, Tarragona
sustained both a ceremonial provincial forum (the scant remnants of which lie
close to the cathedral in Plaça del Fòrum) and a
Fòrum Local
, whose more
substantial remains are on the western side of Rambla Nova, near the central
market. This was the commercial centre of imperial Tarraco and the main
meeting place for locals for three centuries – the evocative remains of the
temple, some small shops, the Roman road and various house foundations can
still be seen.
Other remains lie further out of the centre, including those of the ancient
necropolis
, where both pagan and Christian tombs have been uncovered,
spanning a period from the third to the sixth century AD. The site is largely
closed, with only a small exhibition open to the public.More rewarding is a visit
to the
Roman Aqueduct
, which brought water from the Riu Gayo, some
32km distant. The most impressive extant section, nearly 220m long and 26m
high, lies in an overgrown valley, off the main road, in the middle of nowhere:
take the bus marked “Sant Salvador” (every 20min from the stop outside Avgda.
Prat de la Riba 11, off Avgda. Ramon i Cajal) – a ten-minute ride.
The closest beach to town is the long
Platja del Miracle
, over the rail lines
below the amphitheatre, though nicer by far is
Platja Arrabassada
, a couple
of kilometres further up the coast, reached by taking Via Augusta (off the end
of RamblaVella) and turning right at the
Hotel Astari
– a pleasant thirty-minute
walk with gradually unfolding views of the beach and a few beach bars when
you get there.
Practicalities
The hourly AVE (high-speed) trains from Barcelona Sants have cut journey
times toTarragona to just 35 minutes, but tickets are expensive and the
Camp
de Tarragona
AVE station is ten minutes out of town, which adds on the
price of a taxi ride into the centre. Otherwise, there are regular trains every
thirty minutes from Passeig de Gràcia and Barcelona Sants and the journey
takes just over an hour, stopping at the main
train station
in the lower town:
OUT OF THE CITY
|
Tarragona