TARRAGONA

 

	Tarragona has over 100,000 inhabitants and gathers the advantages of a capital and an economy in expansion, and the attractions of a splendid nature, a gentle climate and an extraordinary monumental ensemble. The village was founded by the Romans (218 b.C., during the Second Punic War), it was the military base for conquering the peninsula, under Augustus is became the capital of the Hispania Tarraconense or Citerior. Its importance is noticeable through the amount and the magnitude of the constructions erected during said period, praetorium, circus, theatre, amphitheatre, citizen and provincial fora, walls, aqueduct, etcetera; which spread out from the top of the rocky hill where the city stands until reaching the seafront. Interesting museums, especially ifrom an archaeological point of view. The cathedral is the most representative symbol of the city's medieval splendour, when it was the metropolitan archbishopry of the Catalan-Aragonese crown. The old quarter, known as the Part Alta, still maintains part of the Roman layout ¿the Plaça de la Font partly coincides with the sand of the circus and for centuries it was surrounded by important walled premises. The urban development carried out last century has its main axis at the Rambla Nova (1854), which turns into the Passeig de les Palmeres upon reaching the seafront, and offers a magnificent view over the Mediterranean. The Passeig Arqueològic, which surrounds the walls, offers a marvellous panoramic view of the Camp de Tarragona, with the mountain ranges of Prades and Llaberia in the backdrop.