Detailed interactive map Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia and east of Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. The town itself has the usual Spanish assortment of plazas sprinkled with cafes and tapas bars.
From the artistic point of view, there are not many places that have such a large number of monuments and tourist attractions concentrated in such a small area as Tarragona has. Part of the bases of large Cyclopean walls near the Quartel de Pilatos is thought to be anterior to the Romans. The amphitheatre near the sea-shore has been used as a quarry, and but few vestiges of it now remain. A circus, 1500 feet long, is now built over it, though portions of it are still to be traced. In the forest a few kilometers north of the city, a Roman arch bridge carrying an aqueduct has been preserved. It is known locally as "Devil's Bridge". Although most of the remains are fragmentary, many preserved beneath more recent buildings, they present a vivid picture of the grandeur of this Roman provincial capital.
At the uppermost point of Tarragona lies this 12th century cathedral having structural design signify the evolution from Romanesque to Gothic architecture. It has a massive, vaulted entrance hall, impressive stained-glass windows, a Romanesque walkway, and an open choir. Also there are local festivals and occasionally the locals come out to dance the Sardana (national dance of Catalonia), with its unique, reedy, rhythmic sound provided by a small band of brass and woodwind players.
