Bimillennial Archaeological Route
Highlights of the Cathedral / Bimillennial Archaeological Route
Tarragona Cathedral has just opened a new facility for visitors. This is the bimillennial Archaeological Route, which follows the great perimeter wall of the imperial temple in Roman Tarraco, located behind the cloister’s medieval chapels, around the basement of the Casa de los Canónigos (House of the Canons).
The Route begins in room 1 of the Museum, behind the old refectory, explaining how the very physiognomy of the medieval city of Tarragona can reveal insights about the Roman city of Tarraco.
The Route links all the areas of the Diocesan Museum: the Museum’s evidence of Christian artistic culture is accompanied by an Archaeological Route that shows how the structure of the building itself has survived over time. By following the Route, visitors walk along the outer face of the Roman wall and can admire the large, moulded windows of the portico, following the remains of one of the exedras or annexes open to the sacred area and ending at the remains of the so-called Flavian temple, the seat of the council for the province of Tarragona. The Route therefore makes it easier to understand how the Roman structures of the provincial forum managed to incorporate the medieval city and its Cathedral complex within their walls.
