Catalonia - Art and Culture 2018

Archaeology Images

It was the capital of the Imperial province of Hispania Citerior. Each year, it continues to be an important Roman city when its evocative ruins are brought back to life. The new life in Tarraco

of the past Stones talk and in Catalonia they tell a story that started 8,000 years ago, continued in the 6 th century BCE in the Iberian enclaves and continued with the arrival of the Greeks and Romans.

© montse riera. GZ

In the year 218 BCE, some soldiers set up a military camp, establishing Tarraco. Later, the Emperor Augustus lived there and turned it into a model of urban development. Today, the an- cient city of Tarraco is a UNESCO World Heri- tage site and is visited in awe by thousands of classic ages lovers. The wall is one of the best preserved monuments, but others are even more impressive, such as the 2 nd century amphithe- atre by the sea. Not very far away, amongst the ruins of the circus (one of the best preserved in Europe), you can still hear echos of the citizens shouting at the chariot races.

The same sun that lit up Tarraco continues to rise over the Costa Daurada. Every May, a Ro- man festival is celebrated at the site. In the 21 st century, men and women dressed in togas and sandals are still seen in the streets. Also many restaurants give off the aroma of the same dishes that were served in antiquity. This is the Tarraco Viva International Cultural Festival, which aims to bring Tarraco back to life for a few days. The company Nemesis offers historical recreations and guided tours (www.nemesisarch.com) . You are welcome to revisit the most real ancient Rome.

Gladiator show at the Tarraco Viva festival.

A

deer watches a hunter coming towards it with his bow pulled. Further along, another painting shows a hunt, and below, a figure

Thousands of years after the paintings were made, the native peoples established their capital at the Iberian site of Ullastret (Costa Brava). Thanks to dramatised visits, as you stroll through the site, you can hear the sound of the market or watch the Ibe- rian farmers return to their fields just as they did many centuries ago. New neighbours Nearby, the Greeks set up their first colony in Catalonia in the 6th century BCE. Empúries was a small community which soon became an active centre, a bustling port receiving boats full of wine, oil, jewels or fabrics, which left again loaded with the cereals, metals or leathers they sold. The Iberians must have watched those people who idolised the God Asclepius with curiosity. They did not know that the Greeks would open the door to the Ro- mans , who would end up dominating the Iberian peninsula.

of a wizard appears. These are some of the more than 400 rock paintings that can be seen in the Serra de Godall, in Ulldecona (Terres de l’Ebre), one of the many sites on the Mediterranean Basin declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1998.

4,5 KILOMETRES: THE LENGTH OF THE WALL OF TARRACO

ROCK PAINTINGS SHELTERED BY L’ERMITA D’ULLDECONA.

The Iberians, live If you are between Barcelona and Tarragona at the end of July, you cannot miss the chance to visit the Iberian Citadel of Calafell. It offers living history activities for everyone in this singular Iron Age site rebuilt using the methodologies of experimental archaeology. You can admire the warriors, mint your own coin, test your skills with the slingshot, and learn games of the time from a Roman soldier, amongst other experiences. The activity can be done in Catalan, Spanish, and English (on request) in the second fortnight of July.

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For more information www.www.calafellhistoric.org

© callafell històric

© Miguel Raurich

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