Today we have just a taste of Tarragona. It’s the town we visited on a day trip while we were staying in Barcelona. 

Today’s visit to Tarragona includes only the Roman ruins that visitors can see there. Back in Roman times, Tarragona was actually the capital city of that area in Spain — Barcelona became the bigger city, and more important port, centuries later.

We decided to visit Tarragona in part because it has the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre, one of our favorite kinds of Roman ruins to visit. As you’ll see in the photos below — and as hinted at last week in that “sneak peek” post —, the Roman amphitheatre in Tarragona is pretty well-preserved, considering that centuries later, two different Catholic churches were built within the walls of the Roman arena.

There are additional Roman ruins to visit in Tarragona as well — we took in the old Roman wall, including old Roman statues that have been places near there. Plus we saw the old Roman Forum, although truth be told it wasn’t really worth the hike across town to visit.  However, it’s interesting that this small seaside town has a well-developed tourist industry, with well-marked paths and maps to guide you to all the main touristy sights. Very nicely done.

Anyway, hope you enjoy today’s photographic look at Roman Tarragona. Note that most of the photos are by Chris (thanks, Chris!), who captured some great shots inside the Roman arena.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you a bit more about our visit to Tarragona, and reveal the primary reason we made the trek there …