Tarragona´s Heritage Watchdog speaks out

Under the title ´The defence of our heritage is no obstacle to development´, a local weekly newspaper of Tarragona (noticiestgn) published an interview on 11 November with the chairman of the Royal Archeological Society of Tarragona, a venerable institution which for decades now has defended the city´s Roman legacy and has often found itself in the position of having to police and keep a watchful eye out for archeological predators of different kinds. I am translating the interview with its chairman, Rafael Gabriel, here in full.

"Q. One of the aims of your organization is the preservation of the city´s heritage. What does that entail?

A. Keeping an eye on our heritage, promoting research and disseminating research. Our organization was established in 1844 at a critical moment for our heritage. This was the age of the ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizabal, the construction of the port and the uninterrupted plunder of the port´s quarry. People from across Europe came here to carry off part of our heritage. It was then that a group of local citizens decided to establish an organization whose aim was to defend our history and to set up an archeological museum.

Q. Our forefathers were clearly concerned about the city´s heritage. Do we nowadays still have that same spirit of fighting for our culture?

A. I think so. A sign is the membership of our organization: there are more than 550 members, many of whom young people. Some have joined us out of love for the city, others because they concerned about heritage issues. The big problem is that people lose hope, think that nothing can be done. And it doesn´t have to be that way: we can always fight to try to improve things.

Q. Your organization is often critical of the role of public institutions. Just by looking at your website (www.arqueologica.org), one can find a whole catalogue of complaints...and not just one or two.

A. Correct. Someone has to play this role and that´s why we are here. Irrespective of our politicians´ political orientation, our organization will denounce whatever we think causes harm to our heritage. Of course, being critical in the good sense of the word: nobody has a monopoly on the truth. So, what we provide is constructive criticism.

A CITY WITHOUT AN ARCHEOLOGICAL PROTECTION PLAN

Q. Does the fact that there is a long list of criticisms mean that things are not being done well?

A. Absolutely. Since 1993, when the Catalan government introduced the Heritage Law (Llei de Patrimoni), cities which are recognized as heritage sites are under an obligation to develop an archeological protection plan, something which the city council has never been willing to do. Such a plan is absolutely essential in order to lay down the basic guidelines and for everyone to know what rules to follow. An entirely unlogical situation is that builders are responsible for the cost of the archeological excavations on building sites. It is the builder himself who pays the archeologists.

An archeological protection plan would lay down the overall guidelines and uniformize the criteria. The administrative work would be optimalized and would even be more cost-effective, something very important at a time when resources are squeezed and are having to be allocated to other essential services like health, education... The city council tries to sell us other products such as a Development Plan for the Parte Alta...but don´t be fooled: they are no archeological protection plan.

Q. Why do you think heritage issues are always so controversial?

A. There is a dichotomy between the future and the preservation of the past and there is no reason why that should be so. They are not incompatible. We don´t seem to be able to appreciate the true greatness of the historical legacy of our city.

Q. Has there been any councillor with responsibility in this field who had this spirit of preservation and promotion of the city´s historical legacy?

A. No, never. All of them have clung to that false dichotomy, believing that heritage is an obstacle to development. One of them had even been a member of the Archeological Society. The aim should be to convert the historical remnants that we have into a monumental complex.

SEVEN ARCADES OF THE FACADE OF THE ROMAN CIRCUS DISMANTLED TO MAKE WAY FOR A CINEMA

Q. What kind of outrageous things have happened to the city´s heritage?

A. I´ll give you a few examples. I could talk about a well-known cinema which up to some years ago existed on the Rambla Vella. To build the cinema, seven arcades of the facade of the circus were dismantled. The Royal Archeological Society denounced this but we were told that there was no way to go against the decision because the cinema was very important to the growth of the city. Priority was given to a cinema - which has only lasted 20 years (and has since been turned into an English pub)- over a 2000-year old legacy.

Another case is Eroski (the location of an Early Christian basilica): the site could have been left intact if the mall had been constructed just five metres further. Instead the finds were removed and replanted somewhere else. What was most important, the connection with the Early Christian Necropolis, was lost.

And let´s not forget the famous monumental fountain found in Carrer Eivissa, a unique piece in the Iberian peninsula. It wasn´t destroyed but now it lies underneath a house. What are we playing at?

Q. At the present time, which renovation works are you most concerned about?

A. The aqueduct (Pont del Diable); the restoration of the Roman walls and its patrol path. We also want the underground tunnel of the circus - which attracts most of our visitors - back in condition: it has been closed recently due to a problem with the sewers and now it´s closed again due to leakages.

WE WANT THE TABACALERA TO BECOME A LITTLE LOUVRE

Q. We have talked about current renovation works. Now, are there any other deficiencies heritagewise?

A. Tarragona ought to have a City History Museum. The current archeological museum should move to the Tabacalera building. Take into consideration that 30% of the Tabacalera complex is built on top of the Necropolis. We are in favour of the idea of building a small Louvre on that site rather than just using the Tabacalera for exhibitions. All of the archeological finds which are now kept in different storage rooms - because of lack of exhibition space - should be on display there. One could even reconstruct the Roman theatre at the Tabacalera. The Praetorian Tower can then be used to house the City History Museum, with displays of the different epochs of our city. We have done something great with our folkloric history: every child knows about our festivals and folk traditions, but if you ask them about the War of Independence against Napoleon, the significance of the wine industry or the medieval period, there is little they know. We have to explain to them the period of the Enlightenment, the construction of the port and what it meant for the city. We cannot loose our identity."

O tempora, o mores! Or, time for an encore!

Symbol, together with the amphiteatre and circus, of a true capital of an imperial Roman province, the theatre of Tarraco has not fared well in recent times. The remains of the theatre - a semi-circular space built in the 1st century AD, in the age of Augustus, just outside the defensive walls on the southern slope of the city, between the Colonial Forum and the port - have been the victim of unmanaged and utterly careless urban development over the late 19th and 20th centuries, just as much as a significant part of the ruins of the residential, lower half of Roman Tarraco was either destroyed or considerably vandalized over that time period. The theatre of Tarragona is the only of its kind in Catalonia. Till the 3rd century AD it used to be the site of lavish dance and theatrical performances, including drama, farce and pantomime.

The rows of seats were partly cut out of the rock on this 20-metres deep slope. Some of these can still clearly be seen, as can part of the stage. But nothing is left of the spectacular, elaborate three-floor structure that once stood behind the stage (barring a number of exceptional sculptures, corinthian capitals, ceramics and other small pieces now safely stored in the archeological museum). Mind you, the rows of seats were still virtually intact when uncovered in 1884, as were probably also some of the theatre´s architectural structures and the adjoining nymphaeum, a large ornamental fountain. The construction of a warehouse in 1919 and its extension in the post-war years put an end to it, destroying most of what was still left of this magnificent building. In the 1970s a housing project on this spot was stopped due to fierce campaigning. Finally, since 1998 the site is in public hands but its conservation has hardly advanced since then. A project to musealize the abandoned site has been on the table for years now. By name a World Heritage site, but the money (from the Catalan government or the Spanish central government) to make the theatre into a real heritage site is just not coming in. O tempora, o mores!

A Roman forum lost in the hustle and bustle

A rather unassuming, smallish site, completely surrounded by housing (some of which rather delapidated) and buried away in the modern city centre far from the romantic Parte Alta of Tarragona, the Colonial Forum in C/Lleida is in fact a place you shouldn´t judge by its cover. This place has seen almost as much history as the city walls of Tarraco, the oldest slice of history still remaining in the city of Tarragona.
Located in what used to be the residential part of Tarraco, halfway between the grand public spaces in the Parte Alta and the port, this was the civic centre of city dwellers: a large porticoed square of over 10,000m², above street level, surrounded by public buildings (city council meeting hall - the curia -, administrative offices, courtrooms, temple) and arcades with shops and near the city theatre which is located just outside the long-gone southern city walls on a natural slope.

This was Tarraco´s first and oldest centre of business, justice, politics and amusement dating back to the 2nd century BC, when the upper part of Tarraco was a military bastion. And even when in the 1st century AD Tarraco´s acropolis - with its circus, provincial forum and imperial temple - was being constructed, this site remained the centre of local affairs, dealing with the business of the city and its immediate hinterland. So, in a way, the odd juxtaposition between the Roman ruins and the hustle and bustle of downtown Tarragona - close also to the current-day Central Market of the city - is perhaps rather fitting. The most significant remnant of the Colonial Forum (or, Local Forum) are the ruins of the basilica, the seat of the courthouse. The impressive forum plaza would have extended southwards, all the way down to the current-day C/Caputxins. Remnants have been dug up beneath the present-day C/Gasòmetre and there is still much to be discovered about this forum. A large number of statues and busts of gods, emperors (like the one of Lucius Verus on the left) and the city elite were dug up in and around the Local Forum and are now on display in the Archeological Museum (MNAT).

The temple of the Forum plaza is believed to have been dedicated to the Capitoline Triad - Jupiter, Juno and Minerva - and then, from the 1st century AD, to the imperial cult. Only the foundations of this temple have been found. In the recent edition of Tarraco Viva, Tarragona´s Roman festival, a re-enactment of the inauguration of a high priest of Jupiter (the ´Flamen Dialis´) took place on this very spot. Next to the temple area there is a well-preserved stretch of a paved Roman street and perpendicular streets, with a sewer running below it and the foundations of a number of houses and water cisterns lying alongside. Confronted by the picturesque majesty and sheer ancientness of these ruins, it is actually not so hard to imagine merchants, judges, politicians, entertainers, worshippers, shoppers and criminals, all on their way to the forum over 2000 years ago.

The virtual reality of Tarraco

A three-part, Spanish-language documentary (21 minutes) on Roman Tarraco which offers a virtual trip through the city and its major monuments (the aqueduct, the fortifications, the theatre, the circus, the amphitheatre, the provincial and colonial forums, the Via Augusta, the triumphal arch of Barà, the tower of the Scipios). An illuminating introduction for anyone keen on making sense of the Roman remains of Tarragona. As always with virtual recreations, there is a great dosis of hypothesis and speculation based on the findings of other Roman cities, with Pompey of course being the greatest fountain of our knowledge of the urbs romana. Technology as a true eductional tool, not as a gimmick. This is the first part; for the second and third parts just click on at the end of the first piece.