Tarragona is an important cultural center and the chief town of the province of the same name. It is located 60 miles south west of Barcelona, and sits picturesquely on a hill rising 525 feet above the Mediterranean. As an important center of the wine trade, Tarragona has large numbers of bodegas in which the wines of the surrounding region are stored. The old town occupies the southern side of the rocky hill, which was once encircled by cyclopean walls. The Palace of Augustus in the city center houses an archaeological museum which provides an interesting study of the city's origin. Of major interest are also the Roman amphitheater, which was excavated in 1952, and the cathedral, built in the 12th and 13th centuries on a site which had previously been occupied by a Roman temple of Jupiter and later a Moorish mosque.
Extensive views of the sea and the coast can be had from the Balcón del Mediterráneo, which is at the south end of the town's principal traffic artery, the broad, tree-lined Rambla Nova. To the east of the Balcón extends a beautiful avenue laid out in terraces, the Paseo de les Palmeres. Charming Tarragona has plenty to offer to its visitors - in town as well as in the surrounding areas - and, therefore, deserves careful planning in order to see as many of its attractions as possible.