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TARRAGONA (anc. Tarraco)

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 432 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TARRAGONA (anc. Tarraco) , the See also:capital of the See also:Spanish See also:province of Tarragona, a flourishing seaport, and the seat of an See also:archbishop; at the mouth of the See also:river Francoli, 63 m. by See also:rail W.S.W. of See also:Barcelona, in 41° 10' N. and o° 20' E. Pop. (1900) 23,423. Tarragona is on the See also:coast railway from Barcelona to See also:Valencia, and is connected with the See also:Ebro Valley Railway by See also:branch See also:line to See also:Reus. The picturesque old See also:town, with its dark and steep alleys, occupies a rugged See also:hill which rises abruptly from the See also:sea to an See also:altitude of about 550 ft. Its highest point, where the See also:ancient citadel stood, is crowned by the See also:cathedral. the See also:seminary for prlests, and the See also:palace of the archbishop, who shares the See also:title See also:primate of See also:Spain with the archbishop of See also:Toledo. Many of the houses in this See also:quarter are very old, and are built partly of See also:Roman See also:masonry; one such fragment, immured in the palace See also:wall, is inscribed with the See also:epitaph of a charioteer (See also:auriga) who, it says, would rather have died in the See also:circus than of See also:fever. Massive ruined walls encircle the old town. Their lowest course is " Cyclopean," consisting of unhewn blocks about 12 ft. See also:long and 6 ft. wide; Roman masonry of the Augustan See also:age is superimposed. The six See also:gates and the square towers are also, to a See also:great extent, " Cyclopean." The palace, itself a See also:building of the See also:early 19th See also:century, has an old fortified See also:tower, and there are See also:barracks and forts in the See also:city; but Tarragona can no longer be regarded as a fortress capable of with-See also:standing See also:modern See also:artillery, although it is officially classed as such. The new town, divided from the old by one broad and shady See also:avenue, the Rambla de See also:San See also:Carlos, and intersected by another, the more modern Rambla de San Juan, extends to the See also:west and See also:south along a See also:low promontory which juts out into the Mediterranean.

Its outlying districts See also:

merge into the See also:Camp de Tarragona, a See also:plain planted with vines and See also:walnut, See also:almond and See also:olive groves. Tarragona cathedral is one of the noblest examples of early Spanish See also:art. It is 320 ft. long and 103 ft. broad, and consisted originally of a See also:nave, aisles, transepts with an octagonal See also:lantern at the See also:crossing, and an apsidal See also:chancel. Several exterior chapels were added in later times, and on the south-See also:east stands a 14th-century See also:steeple raised on a Romanesque tower. The east end was probably begun in 1131 on the ruins of an earlier See also:church, but the See also:main See also:body of the building See also:dates from the end of the 12th century and the first See also:half of the 13th, and is of transitional See also:character,—the exuberant richness of the sculptured capitals being admirably kept in subordination by the Romanesque simplicity of the See also:general See also:design. Considerable changes were introduced at a later date; and the See also:present west end of the nave cannot have been completed till See also:late in the 14th century. On the See also:north-east See also:side is a See also:cloister contemporary with the church, with which it communicates by a very See also:fine See also:doorway. The cloister contains much remarkable See also:work, and the See also:tracery of the windows bears interesting marks of Moorish See also:influence. Two other noteworthy churches in the city are San Pablo and See also:Santa Tecla la Vieja, both of the 12th century. There is a fine Roman See also:aqueduct; the Roman See also:amphitheatre was dismantled in 1491 to furnish See also:stone for the eastern See also:mole, though a few rows of seats are See also:left near the sea-See also:shore; and the museum contains a large collection of Roman antiquities. The Torreon de Pilatos is said to have been the palace of the See also:Emperor See also:Augustus; it was partly destroyed by the See also:French in 1811 and now serves as a See also:prison. Its name is connected with an old tradition that Pontius See also:Pilate was a native of the city.

Tarragona has also many public buildings, including the See also:

law courts, several hospitals, a provincial See also:institute, training See also:schools for teachers, and offices of the provincial and municipal governments. When the monks of the Grande See also:Chartreuse were compelled to leave See also:France, they settled at Tarragona in 1903, and established a liqueur factory; 20,000 cases of liqueur were exported in 1904 and 39,000 in 1905. A characteristic feature of Tarragona is the number of its underground storehouses for See also:wine (bodegas) ; wine is exported in large quantities. There is a See also:British See also:steel See also:file factory; See also:chocolate, See also:soap, See also:flour, ironware, See also:paper, pipes and salted See also:fish are also manufactured. The See also:harbour is at the extreme south-west of the new town. It was originally protected by a Roman See also:breakwater, which was destroyed in the 19th century. The eastern mole, founded in 1491 and frequently enlarged, terminates in a lighthouse. Its length was 1400 yards in 1904, when the construction of a new See also:section was begun. In each of the five years 1901-5 about 87o See also:ships of 580,000 tons entered the See also:port. Wine, oil, nuts, almonds and small quantities of See also:lead and See also:pig See also:iron are exported; the imports include See also:coal from Great See also:Britain, See also:grain from the See also:Black Sea, staves and See also:petroleum from the See also:United States, dried codfish from See also:Norway and See also:Iceland, See also:guano and See also:phosphates. See also:Close to the harbour and at the mouth of the Francoli is the fishermen's quarter (barrio de See also:pescadores), in which most of the houses are coloured See also:pale See also:blue. See also:History.—Tarraco, the capital of the Iberian Cessetani, many of whose coins are extant, was one of the earliest Roman strong-holds in Spain.

It was captured in 218 B.C. by Gnaeus and Publius See also:

Cornelius Scipio, who improved its harbours and enlarged its walls. A Roman See also:monument on a hill 3 M. E. is known as the Sepulcro de los Escipiones, and locally believed to be the See also:tomb of the Scipios, who were defeated and slain by the Carthaginians under See also:Hasdrubal See also:Barca in 212 B.C. The See also:battle took See also:place at Antiorgis, the modern Alcaniz in the province of See also:Teruel; there is no See also:good See also:reason to believe that the bodies of the Scipios were conveyed to Tarragona for See also:burial, nor is the monument older than the 1st century A.D. As the Colonia Triumphalis, so called to commemorate the victories of See also:Julius See also:Caesar, Tarraco was made the seat of one of the four See also:assize courts (conventus juridici) established in Hispania Citerior. Augustus spent the See also:winter of 26 B.C. here, and made Tarraco the capital of the whole province, which received the name of Hispania Tarraconensis. A See also:temple was built in his See also:honour. It was afterwards restored by See also:Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), and the city became the Spanish headquarters of the See also:worship of the goddess See also:Roma and the deified emperors. Its See also:flax See also:trade and other See also:industries made it one of the richest seaports of the See also:empire; See also:Martial and See also:Pliny celebrated its See also:climate and its wines, and the fragmentary remains of temples, See also:baths, amphitheatre and other Roman buildings See also:bear See also:witness to its prosperity. It became an archbishopric in the 5th century. To the See also:Romans the Visigoths under Euric succeeded in 457, but on their See also:expulsion by the See also:Moors in 711 the city was plundered and burned.

It was long before the ruins were again inhabited, but by 1089, when the Moors were driven out by See also:

Raymond IV. of Barcelona, there must have been a certain revival of prosperity, for the primacy, which had been removed to See also:Vich, was in that See also:year restored to Tarragona. In 1118 a See also:grant of the See also:fief was made to the See also:Norman See also:Robert Burdet,who converted the town into a frontier fortress against the Moors. In 1705 the city was taken and burned by the British; in 1811, after being partly fortified, it was captured and sacked by the French.

End of Article: TARRAGONA (anc. Tarraco)

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