To the roots of Tarraco

These are the ´murallas´ or in plain English the ´city walls´. What´s been preserved of Tarraco´s Roman fortifications - and in an excellent state - are the kilometre-long walls surrounding the oldest part of the city. This is definitely the most fabulous monument of the city, especially at nighttime. The best preserved section of the walls is part of what is called the Archeological Promenade: an arcadia of tranquillity, greenery and ancient history. Really ancient history because here one finds not just the city´s but one of Spain´s oldest Roman monument: the oldest stretch of the fortifications dates back to the years 217-197BC, the very origins of Tarraco. The place is a lesson in military history: the first tower, the ´Archbishop´s Tower´, has Roman foundations, was rebuilt in the 14th century - by then part of the compound of the archbishop of Tarragona and his staff - and lies alongside low ramparts fitted with cannons that were constructed in the 1700s. Marks by Roman quarrymen sculpted into blocks of masonry can be seen all along the walls. Apart from the three towers along the itinerary, with the Minerva Tower best maintaining its original Roman appearance, there are also a number of ´cyclopean gates´ where huge, rough boulders were used to create an entry into the city.

This walk along columns, cypress trees, blazing bougainvilleas and fountains will hopefully in the near future come with two extras: (1) in the past you used to be able to climb up the patrol path atop the wall between the entry to the Archeological Promenade and a 16th-century bastion - once the current restoration works are over, this will be all the more spectacular; and (2) work is now also underway (and expected to be completed by the end of 2009) on the one authentic, entirely preserved larger gate in the wall at the end of the Promenade (known as the ´Porta dels Socors´ and hardly known even among locals), which would not only provide a second access to the wall´s upper corridor but also open up two rooms located between the inner and outer wall which in Roman times were probably used by the guards of the gate.