Tarragona

Tarragona is a city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada area on the Mediterranean shore, around the mouth of the Francolí. Developed in a favorable location on a coastal hill by ancient Romans in the context of the Second Punic War near a previous Iberian settlement, Tarraco eventually became the gateway for Roman control of the Iberian Peninsula. It served as the capital, successively, of the provinces of Hispania Citerior and Hispania Tarraconensis and also became a bishopric seat. Urban continuity is presumed to have been the norm in the 8th century following its integration into Al-Andalus. The Camp de Tarragona later turned into a borderland, and the city was abandoned by Muslims by the mid 10th century. Early Christian repopulation of the city and its hinterland in the 12th century took the form of an autonomous principality, before its 1173 full integration into the Principality of Catalonia and the Crown of Aragon. The Archaeological Complex of Tàrraco is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.