I toured the Roman Amphitheater during the hottest part of the day and still enjoyed it immensely…read more It was built at the end of the 1st century AD and the start of the 2nd century, AD. It has a long rich..dark history. It was incredible to be able to walk around and experience something from so long ago. I spent about an hour here and learned a lot.

What a special find... an amphitheater from the 2nd century. It's gorgeous overlooking the…read moreMediterranean Sea.

This site is open air and underground ruins of a Roman chariot racing track, circus area and a…read moretower. It was built in the 1st century AD and probably used through the 5th century. There are long underground tunnels with rooms leading off of the tunnels and lots of stairs going up to the tower area. Plan on walking a lot. It is an amazing site that is in great shape for being so old.

Very nice place to visit - be prepared to walk and climb steps! It costs 1.70€ if you are a…read morestudent, double for non-students. You essentially walk in tunnels underground of what used to be a Roman circus (think more chariots rather than ferris wheels) and there is information in English about what you're looking at. It's self guided and you can take as much time as you need. We spent probably an hour or two walking around and reading. The views from climbing the steps (or taking the elevator) of the town are beautiful! You can see the Amphitheatre and the beach from the top of the lookout. If you're in Tarragona, this is a must see site.

This was one of my favorite sites in Tarragona. There is a small entrance fee and bathrooms…read moreavailable. In the 2nd century B.C. a wall was built around Tarraco. The wall originally ran around 3,500 meters and about 1,100 remain. It borders present day Tarragona's Old Quarter and is the oldest Roman construction still conserved outside of Italy. The walls were reinforced in the 16th and 18th centuries. There are shaded gardens, beautiful sculptures, cannons, and historical signage throughout the site.

The best preserved part of Roman Tarragona are the walls which still encircle the old town, and a…read more1.5km section has been landscaped and is open to the public as an archaeological walk. The lowest layers of the walls consist of large rough-hewn boulders, which survive from the Iberian period. These include two impressive but primitive doorways, which contrast with the more sophisticated Roman walls above, which date from the 3rd century BC and are up to 15m high. This makes them the oldest preserved Roman remains outside Italy. The walk also takes in a number of the bastions built by the British in 1707 during the Wars of the Spanish Succession, complete with cannons, as well as elements from the mediaeval period. Half way along there is a display housed in several vaults describing the history and development of the walls from Roman to modern times. The walk provides good views over the northern half of the modern city and the hills beyond. The walls form part of the Tarragona UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This was the main commercial Forum during the Roman period, and consisted of an impressive…read moreporticoed square containing rows of shops, taverns and other commercial buildings. Today, the site includes some impressive columns, and several arches which would have contained shops and taverns. Around these are the rather more basic remains of houses and other buildings, with features such as water cisterns, olive and wine cisterns and other features of domestic life. The site is situated in the western half of the modern city, close to the railway station and is surrounded by incredibly dreary blocks of flats, separated from the remains by an ugly concrete screen. The site is split in half by a modern road, which you cross by a small footbridge.

Absolutely breathtaking! A must visit when in Tarragona if like ancient roman civilization.read more

On my first field trip outside of Barcelona after more than a year... where did I decide to go?…read more A Sanatorium! And what a jewel of a building! Designed by the fabulous Domènech i Montaner, this is the epitome of Art Nouveau aka Modernisme. If you're ever out in Reus, you must visit this place. The audio tour is chock-full of interesting information, and basically lasts about 30 minutes. And at only 5 euros, how can you go wrong? I still can't believe this was a sanatorium... If you got the right room, you can get views of the city and the sea... Of course only the men's wing was built in this style... The tiles! The built-in furnishings! Everything about the design and architecture was thoughtful, gorgeous and amazing.

Situated on an impressive and commanding site at the northern end of the Parc de Foix, with superb…read moreviews over the impressive Foix reservoir, the Castle of Castellet dominates the small (and rather well-to-do) settlement that has grown up around it. The castle, heavily restored, is famous for its attractive grouping of square and round towers, and the adjacent (and separate) hillside chapel. Built in the 10th century, it is first referred to in a document dated 977AD, although most of what you see today is the result of a series of mediaeval rebuilding, reflecting its major strategic importance during the period of the reconquest of Catalonia by the Christians from the Moors, when it was owned by the Counts of Barcelona, and through the mediaeval period (when it was a possession of the joint Catalonian and Aragonese Crown) until the 16th century. Thereafter, the castle slowly fell into ruin. Restoration began in the 1920s and 1930s, but what you see now is essentially the result of its acquisition in 1999 by the Albertis Foundation, itself sponsored by the large Spanish infrastructure group of the same name, which acquired the castle as a home for its research work on the environment and transport. The renovation has produced a thoroughly modern corporate presentation inside while respecting the fabric of the original castle. It's not an approach normally adopted in the UK, but it at least ensures a safe future for the building. The most notable features are its oval 10th century tower and walls from the 15th century. The castle itself is only open for guided visits on rather limited hours around lunchtime at week-ends. Inside, there is a small museum of the site's history. There's a small car park next to the castle, with a rather larger car park at the foot of the hill. Slightly closer access can be had by parking close to the village's classy restaurant, although this is reserved for patrons when the restaurant is open. Alternatively, the castle lies on a number of long distance footpaths between Sitges, Vilanova i la Geltrú and Vilafranca del Penedès.