Spain > Tarragona

Tarragona

Tarragona stands on a hillock 69 m high that slopes gently down the sea. It is divided into three parts: the Part Alta, or old quarter, within the con-fines of the medieval city that was built over the Roman acropolis; the Eixamples —or “enlarge-ments”— which were built from the 19th century onwards; and the Barri Marltim, which includes the port and the Serrallo. Roman Tarraco extends beyond the Part Alta to the edge of the modern city. It has been classified by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage and is described in a separate chapter.

The Part Alta. From the 12th century onwards, the population increased sharply thanks to the political and economic power of the archbishops, who built a magnificent capital on the ruins of the Roman city. The Part Alta has retained its quaint medieval air and is largely surrounded by walls built on Roman foundations. Within it relics of the ancient world are found side by side with great buildings from medieval and later eras.

The most outstanding building is undoubtedly the 12-14th C. Cathedral. Planned in the Romanesque period but built mainly in the Gothic era, it occupies the site of the Roman temple, part of the marble from which was re-used. It has many remarkable features: the unfinished fapade with its large rose window and, over the doorway, the 13th C. sculptures of The Virgin and the Apostles by Mestre Bartomeu; the magnificent cloister with carved capitals and a magnificent white marble Romanesque doorway into the cathedral; the chapter house which houses part of the fine Diocesan Museum, richly endowed with medieval paintings and sculptures and a splendid collection of tapestries; the exquisite polychrome alabaster altarpiece of Santa Tecta (1433) by the great sculptor Pere Joan, over the high altar; the 14th C. tomb and mausoleum of the patriarch-archbishop Joan d’Aragb, with its strikingly realistic recumbent figure; the chapel of El Santfssim and other important works of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque art. Round the Cathedral stand the Archbishop’s Palace (1814), the neo-Gothic Seminary and the Cases dels Canonges. A great staircase leads to other former cathedral buildings —La Cambreria Palace and Casa del Deg&— near the Pla de la Seu. On Carrer de les Coques, which runs along the east side of the Cathedral, the chief building is the 12th C. Hospital of Santa Tecla.