{"id":113490,"date":"2017-05-29T13:43:13","date_gmt":"2017-05-29T13:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catalunyacasas.imbookingsecure.com\/?p=113490"},"modified":"2023-03-24T17:43:44","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T17:43:44","slug":"explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/","title":{"rendered":"Explore Catalonia\u2019s ancient ruins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spain’s Catalonia region is famous for its centuries of history and is home to some of the best-preserved Medieval towns and villages in the world. If you\u2019re interested in delving back even further into the region\u2019s history to learn more about the Greek and Roman eras during your holiday in Spain<\/u><\/a>, check out some of Catalonia\u2019s ancient ruins. From historic walled remains to first-century racecourses, the Catalonia region has plenty to uncover. Here are three of the region\u2019s best-preserved ancient ruins that are open to the public.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Emp\u00faries<\/strong><\/p>\n

The old town of Emp\u00faries was founded in 575 BC by the Greeks, although the town was eventually taken over by the Romans. Excavations on the town began in the 1900s, and today it\u2019s possible to see old homes, temples, walls, and mosaics, and there\u2019s even the Museum of MAC-Emp\u00faries which provides stories behind the ruins. However, the highlights are the gardens, where you can learn more about traditional Roman medicine, and the underground crypt, which has only recently opened to the public. Book a Costa Brava vacation rental<\/u><\/a> to stay near to Emp\u00faries. If you enjoy pleasant strolls, then stay in L\u2019Escala and take the pedestrianized coastal path right along the water to the town.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tarragona Amphitheatre
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Built in the second century, the Tarragona Amphitheatre is one of the main attractions in this old town, which was once a thriving Roman colony known as Tarraco. Taking on a traditional Colosseum appearance, it is believed that the amphitheatre could once hold up to 15,000 spectators at a time, making it one of the largest in Europe. When Islam arrived and Catholicism dwindled as the primary religion in Spain, the amphitheatre was abandoned, and over the years it has housed a church and has been used as a prison. Luckily for those taking a vacation in Spain<\/u><\/a>, the theatre was somewhat recovered in recent years, and today is a remarkably well-preserved site.<\/p>\n

Circ Roma<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another great location in Tarragona is Circ Roma, or the Roman Circus. Built in the first century, this was the place to see and be seen, and played a major role in the world of leisure during Roman rule. Somewhat of an ancient alternative to the modern Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the Roman Circus was the best place in Catalonia to watch fast-action chariot races. Perhaps one of Catalonia\u2019s best preserved ruins, remaining inscriptions have led experts to believe that the racetrack remained in use until the fifth century, when it was abandoned. A part of the track is still very much intact, making it an amazing place to explore. Tarragona is easy to reach from most villas on the Costa Dorada<\/u><\/a>, but it\u2019s also just a one-hour drive from Barcelona, too, making it a top choice for a day trip during your Barcelona holiday<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spain’s Catalonia region is famous for its centuries of history and is home to some of the best-preserved Medieval towns…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[366,47,59,14,15,16,18,122,180,169,64,19,67,367,69,21,38,75,160,368,369,370,77,78,42,151,147,148,25,26,154],"class_list":["post-113490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-ancient","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-accommodation","tag-barcelona-holiday-rental","tag-barcelona-vacation-rental","tag-barcelona-villa","tag-catalunya-casas","tag-costa-brava-holiday-rental","tag-costa-brava-vacation-rental","tag-costa-brava-villa","tag-costa-dorada-villa","tag-family-villa-barcelona","tag-family-villa-spain","tag-greeks","tag-holiday-in-spain","tag-rent-house-barcelona","tag-rent-house-spain","tag-rent-villa-barcelona","tag-rent-villa-spain","tag-roman","tag-roman-ruins","tag-ruins","tag-spain-villa","tag-tarragona","tag-vacation","tag-vacation-rental-barcelona","tag-vacation-rental-in-spain","tag-villa-rental-in-spain","tag-villa-with-pool-barcelona","tag-villa-with-private-pool-barcelona","tag-villas-in-barcelona"],"yoast_head":"\nExplore Catalonia\u2019s ancient ruins - Catalonia Vacation Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Explore Catalonia\u2019s ancient ruins - Catalonia Vacation Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spain’s Catalonia region is famous for its centuries of history and is home to some of the best-preserved Medieval towns...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catalonia Vacation Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-29T13:43:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-24T17:43:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/catalunyacasas.kigobook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/914\/2018\/10\/vista_03_general_carousel.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"catalunyacasas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"catalunyacasas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/\",\"name\":\"Explore Catalonia\u2019s ancient ruins - Catalonia Vacation Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/catalunyacasas.kigobook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/914\/2018\/10\/vista_03_general_carousel.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-29T13:43:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-24T17:43:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cbeb34a93197a9e92612fdb6f3c469f7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/catalunyacasas.kigobook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/914\/2018\/10\/vista_03_general_carousel.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/catalunyacasas.kigobook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/914\/2018\/10\/vista_03_general_carousel.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Explore Catalonia\u2019s ancient ruins\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Catalonia Vacation Blog\",\"description\":\"Catalunya Casas\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cbeb34a93197a9e92612fdb6f3c469f7\",\"name\":\"catalunyacasas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c4975fb532e58d49bd9f50bbc4c40e7ab2be8d490fd82482faae96356007cc3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c4975fb532e58d49bd9f50bbc4c40e7ab2be8d490fd82482faae96356007cc3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"catalunyacasas\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/author\/catalunyacasas\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Explore Catalonia\u2019s ancient ruins - Catalonia Vacation Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Explore Catalonia\u2019s ancient ruins - Catalonia Vacation Blog","og_description":"Spain’s Catalonia region is famous for its centuries of history and is home to some of the best-preserved Medieval towns...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/","og_site_name":"Catalonia Vacation Blog","article_published_time":"2017-05-29T13:43:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-24T17:43:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/catalunyacasas.kigobook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/914\/2018\/10\/vista_03_general_carousel.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"catalunyacasas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"catalunyacasas","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/","url":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/","name":"Explore Catalonia\u2019s ancient ruins - Catalonia Vacation Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/catalunyacasas.kigobook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/914\/2018\/10\/vista_03_general_carousel.jpg","datePublished":"2017-05-29T13:43:13+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-24T17:43:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cbeb34a93197a9e92612fdb6f3c469f7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/catalunyacasas.kigobook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/914\/2018\/10\/vista_03_general_carousel.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/catalunyacasas.kigobook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/914\/2018\/10\/vista_03_general_carousel.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/explore-catalonias-ancient-ruins\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Explore Catalonia\u2019s ancient ruins"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/","name":"Catalonia Vacation Blog","description":"Catalunya Casas","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cbeb34a93197a9e92612fdb6f3c469f7","name":"catalunyacasas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c4975fb532e58d49bd9f50bbc4c40e7ab2be8d490fd82482faae96356007cc3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c4975fb532e58d49bd9f50bbc4c40e7ab2be8d490fd82482faae96356007cc3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"catalunyacasas"},"url":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/author\/catalunyacasas\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194679,"href":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113490\/revisions\/194679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catalunyacasas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}