Tarraco, Hispania Tarraconensis – Part III

Continued From Tarraco Part II There are a number of interesting Roman sites in the area around Tarraco, most of them accessible with public transportation from Tarragona. The one exception to this is the Arc de Berà, an arch constructed in 13 BCE at the behest of Lucius Licinius Sura and dedicated to Augustus. This…

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Tarraco, Hispania Tarraconensis – Part II

Continued From Tarraco Part I (See Map Here) Located just next to the circus, at Plaça del Rei 5, is the impressive Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona (MNAT). The museum is open in the summer (June 1st to September 30th) on Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30 to 20:30, and from 10:00 to 14:00 on Sundays…

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Tarraco, Hispania Tarraconensis – Part I

Most Recent Visit: June 2016 At the eventual site of the Roman colony of Tarraco was an Iberian settlement, probably called Cissa and belonging to the Cessetani tribe. Other names associated with the city are Cissis, Kesse, and Kosse. Another theory proposed is that it was a Phoenician colony with the name of Tarchon. The…

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Saguntum, Hispania Tarraconensis – Part II

See Part I of Saguntum for a map of site locations. Not far from the museum is the so-called ‘Temple of Diana’, which is in actuality not associated with any temple to Diana or any other deity, but instead seems to be a part of the second century BCE Ibero-Roman fortification walls of Saguntum constructed…

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Saguntum, Hispania Tarraconensis – Part I

Most Recent Visit: June 2016. Up the coast from Valencia about 30 kilometers is the town of Sagunto. From the middle ages until the 19th century, the town was known Morviedro, derived from the Latin muri veteres, a nod to the ample ancient remains here. In the 19th century, however, the name was changed to…

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Edeta, Hispania Tarraconensis

Most Recent Visit: June 2016 The Spanish town of Llíria lies about 25 kilometers to the northwest of Valencia. This area was probably originally settled by the Edetani tribe in the 6th century BCE as part of a larger area of control. The originally settlement of the Edetani, the town of Edeta, was located on…

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Lucentum, Hispania Tarraconensis

The Roman city of Lucentum, located in an outlying neighborhood of modern Alicante, seems to have begun as a settlement at least as early as the 5th century BCE. The name of that original settlement appears to have been, at some point, Akra Leuka, Greek for “white mountain”, probably in reference to the nearby Monte…

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Valentia, Hispania Tarraconensis

Most Recent Visit: June 2016. Today the site of the third largest city in Spain, after Madrid and Barcelona, Valencia’s origins go back over 2000 years to 138 BCE, where, after a protracted war with Iberian forces led by the Lusitanian commander Viriathus, the consul Decimus Junius Brutus Galaico founded the colony of Valentia Edetanorum…

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Temple of Debod – Madrid, Spain

Most Recent Visit: June 2016 Quick Info: Address: Calle Ferraz, 1 8008 Madrid Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10:00-20:00 Monday Closed Admission: Free   The capital of Spain, though having a significant place in history in the medieval and modern periods, doesn’t seem to have been the site of a significant settlement in antiquity. There is some evidence to…

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Toletum, Hispania Tarraconensis

Most Recent Visit: June 2016 Quick Info: Address: Termas Romanas Plaza Amador de los Ríos, 3 45001 Toledo Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10:00-14:00, 16:00-20:00 Sunday 10:00-14:00 Monday Closed Admission: Free Address: Cuevas de Hércules Callejón San Ginés, 3 45001 Toledo Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 12:00-14:00, 17:00-19:00 Sunday,Monday Closed Admission: Free Despite becoming an important city starting in late antiquity,…

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