On 30 November 2000, the UNESCO committee, meeting in the Australian city of Cairns, decided to officially declare the archaeological complex of Tarraco a World Heritage Site.
This recognition is intended to help ensure the conservation of the monuments, as well as to introduce them to the broader international public. Among the citizens of Tarragona, it has moreover fomented knowledge of, pride in and respect for the city.
The archaeological complex of Tarraco has likewise been declared one of the 7 Wonders of Catalonia. In 2015 it is declared of Exceptional Universal Value.
The archaeological complex of Tarraco comprises 14 sites spread across four municipalities. In Tarragona itself you will find the Roman Walls, the Temple of Imperial Worship, the Provincial Forum square, the Roman Circus, the Colonial Forum, the Roman Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre with the Visigoth basilica and Romanesque church of Santa Maria del Miracle, the Early Christian Necropolis, the Les Ferreres Aqueduct, the Scipion Tower, and the Mèdol Quarry. In the municipality of Constanti you’ll find the monumental complex of Centcelles; in the town of Altafulla, the Roman Villa of Els Munts; and in Roda de Berà you’ll find the Bera Arch.
All these sites are characteristic of a provincial capital such as Tarraco, which was an exceptionally important city in terms of the development of urban planning and the aesthetics of Roman cities, serving as a model for other cities created in the Roman Empire.
© Manel R. Granell
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