This document summarizes the major historical sites to visit in Tarraco, Spain as part of a Roman tour. It describes the well-preserved Roman walls, provincial forum, circus, amphitheater, national archaeological museum, and aqueducts built during the Roman Republic that can still be seen today. Booking villa rentals in Costa Dorada provides a convenient home base from which to explore these historical monuments that showcase Tarragona's significance during ancient Roman times.

1. Villa rentals in Costa Dorada: The Roman Tarraco II
As we talked on our previous post, there is a lot of history concerning Tarraco but today, we
would like to talk about a tour in order for you to visit the main historical places that were
important during the Roman Republic. If you book your villa rentals in Costa Dorada you can’t
miss this wonderful route. Get ready and keep your eyes wide open to see all the beauty of
these historical monuments of ancient Tarragona.
Roman walls
In the second century, Tarraco was given a large wall that enclosed the city limits. Its
length was about 3,500 meters. 1,100 meters of them are preserved today, surrounding
the Old Town. The most interesting part to visit is the Archaeological Walk, where you can
see various locks 100% preserved, showing particular socket megalithic blocks, as well
as two of the six portholes and a beautiful gateway for traffic.
Provincial Forum
The area of the Provincial Forum is 18 ha, and it was built starting from 73 AD, by order of
Emperor Vespasian, and remained in use until the 5th century. It is the largest
monument of its kind in the entire Roman world. Forum provincial structured in two places
at different heights.
Circus
The Roman circus is part of the Provincial Forum and it is one of the best­preserved circus
in all the Western world, despite the fact that much of the structure remains hidden under
19th century buildings. Currently, the eastern side can be visited, including the
decorative façade and stands, as well as the Sant Hermenegild and Carrer Enrajolat
vaults. Another section has been uncovered in Plaça Sedassos, and several vaults can
still be visited along Carrer Trinquet Vell and in Plaça de la Font.
Amphiteatre
The main use of the amphitheatre was to entertain the town, including fights
between wild beasts and gladiators as well as public executions. The Amphiteatre was
built at the turn of the 2nd century A.D. and it was modified in 221 A.D. Today, a heavily
eroded section of the stands carved directly into the remaining rocks, as does a section
of the southern stands, supported by concrete vaults. To commemorate the event, a Visigoth
basilica was built on the site at the turn of the 7th century, over which the medieval
church of Santa Maria del Miracle was subsequently established.
National Archeological Museum
The National Archeological Museum was founded in the 19th century, and it was built after
the mix of these two: the Monument Committee Museum and the Tarragona

2. Archaeological Society Museum. You can find this Museum in today’s central Plaça
del Rei in Tarragona, where you will be able to see some Roman ruins, including several
fascinating architectural fragments, sculptures, inscriptions, mosaics, potter and other
Roman gadgets. If you go to the basement, you will get a view of part of the original ancient
Roman wall.
Aqueduct
Tarraco, as a city, needed water supply for the town, so they built two long
aqueducts in the 1st century A.D. The first one was 40 km long and was fed by the Gaià
River. The Francolí River fed the second one, which was also 15 km long. This one has
the nicest stretch above all: 217 meters segment that stands 26 meters tall at its highest
point. This point is known as the Pont del Diable (Devil's Bridge) or "Les Ferreres" Aqueduct.
In conclusion, if you need more information about this interesting and unique tour around the
most preserved Romans ruins in Spain, you can also visit the following site for further details:
http://www.mnat.cat/?page=tarraco­itineraris.
On the other hand, if you would like to learn more about villa rentals in Costa Dorada, don’t
hesitate to visit our site Arenda Costa Dorada, where you can find all the villas we can offer
for this up­coming spring and summer.