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Tarragona is a port city on the Costa Daurada on the Mediterranean Sea in northeast Spain. It was founded before the fifth century BC and serves as the capital of the Province of Tarragona, as well as a part of Tarragonès and Catalonia. Geographically, it is bounded on the north by the provinces of Barcelona and Lleida.

The main attractions - relics from the past

UNESCO has classified Tarraco's Roman remains as a World Heritage Site.

Part of the bases of huge Cyclopean walls at the Cuartel de Pilatos may predate the Romans. The above-mentioned structure, a 19th-century jail, is claimed to have been Augustus' palace. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the second-century Tarragona Amphitheatre on the seaside was widely exploited as a quarry, and just a few remnants of it exist today. A 450-metre-long circus was constructed over in the location now known as Plaça de la Font, but remnants of it may still be seen. Throughout the village, Latin, and perhaps Phoenician, inscriptions on the stones of the homes indicate the material used to construct the structures.

However, two old structures located a short distance from the town have fared much better. The first of them is the Les Ferreres Aqueduct, which spans a valley approximately 4 kilometers north of the city. It is 217 meters long, and the tallest arches, which are divided into two tiers, are 26 meters high. There is a monument approximately 6 kilometers along the seaside road east of the city known as the "Tower of the Scipios," although there is no evidence that they were buried here.

Other Roman structures include:

The Roman fortifications

The capitol, also known as the citadel

The Amphitheatre is a type of amphitheater.

The circus in Rome

Tower of the Pretorium

Provincial and colonial forums

The Tomb of the Unknown

Augustus' palace, also known as the House of Pilate

The Scipios' so-called tower, or sepulchre

Sura's or Bara's Arch

The Aurelian Method.

Tarragona's National Archaeological Museum is also located in the city.

Religious structures

Tarragona Cathedral, built during the 12th and 13th centuries, combines Romanesque and Gothic features.

The archiepiscopal palace is on the site of the old capitol, one of whose towers still stands. It was reconstructed in the nineteenth century.

The remnants of a church named Santa Maria del Miracle (Holy Mary of the Miracle), which belonged to the Knights Templar, may be seen near the sea in the Roman amphitheatre. It was then utilized by the Trinitarian Order before being turned into a prison. It was dismantled around the year 1915.

The seminary of Sant Pau and Santa Tecla was created in 1570 by the cardinal archbishop, Gaspar Cervantes de Gaeta, and was the first to follow the Council of Trent's directives. Archbishop José Domingo Costa y Borrás added a fourth wing in 1858. In 1886, Benito Villamitjana erected a new seminary behind the cathedral, in which sits the ancient chapel of Sant Pau. Pope Leo XIII elevated it to the status of a pontifical university.

Poblet Monastery, 50 kilometers north of the city, was built in 1151 by Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, and was used for monarchs' sepultures.