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SPANISH HISTORY

Where to see Roman Spain

It's not just Italy where you can see some of the best-preserved Roman ruins in Europe. Spain in fact has its fair share, from amphitheatres and temples, to chariot racing circuits, aqueducts and grand villas. Here's where to find them.

Published: 3 November 2023 10:53 CET
Where to see Roman Spain
Where to see Roman Spain - Photo: Juanje 2712 / Wikimedia Commons

Mérida, Extremadura

Mérida was founded by the Romans in 25 BC, under the name of Emerita Augusta and is a treasure trove of Roman ruins, many of them particularly well preserved. It’s home to not just one, but two theatres – the Roman Theatre and the Roman Amphitheatre.

The Roman theatre was built between 16 and 15 BC and much of this epic structure is still standing. In its heyday, it could accommodate 6,000 spectators. But the grand dame is the Roman Amphitheatre, inaugurated in 8 BC, which could hold up to 15,000 people. It was used for entertainment including gladiator shows.

Another highlight is the Roman circus, one of the best preserved in the entire empire and also one of the biggest, where around 30,000 people would gather to watch the chariot races. And of course, what Roman city would be complete without its Roman Temple? The city’s Temple of Diana was built in the first century AD and is the only religious structure still standing today.

The Aqueduct of Miracles completes this amazing outdoor Roman museum and almost 800 metres of this vast structure remain.

Mérida’s Roman Amphitheatre is quite a sight to behold. Photo: Miguel Bañuls Benavent / Pixabay
 
 

Tarragona, Catalonia

The Catalan city of Tarragona is another of the best places in the country to experience Roman Spain, home to several ancient monuments. Tarragona was founded by the Romans in the 3rd century BC and is one of the oldest Roman settlements on the Iberian peninsula. The highlight of its Roman ruins is the grand Roman Amphitheatre, sitting right on the shore of the Mediterranean. It was built at the time of Emperor Augustus in the 2nd century AD and remains one of the best-preserved in Spain.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Roman ruins in Tarragona – there are also the city the walls built between the 3rd-2nd centuries BC, of which 1,100 metres remain; the forum area from the 1st century AD and the circus from the same time – an ancient chariot racing track.

The Roman Amphitheatre in Tarragona overlooks the Mediterranean. Photo: Marc Pascual / Pixabay
 
 
 

Segovia, Castilla y León

The Castilla y León city of Segovia is famed for its grand Roman aqueduct, thought to be one of the biggest in the Roman Empire. It was built between the second half of the first century and the early 2nd century, and has 167 arches, made up of a total of 20,400 blocks of stone. There is no cement or mortar between each of the stones, meaning each is balanced on the next.

The aqueduct was built to carry water from the River Acebeda to the city and has certainly stood the test of time.

Segovia’s Roman aqueduct is made without any cement. Photo: WikimediaImages / Pixabay
 

Lugo, Galicia

According to UNESCO, the city of Lugo in Galicia is home to “one of the finest examples of late Roman fortifications in Western Europe”. These huge sandcastle-like structures surround the centre of the city and were built in the 3rd century in order to defend what was then known as the town of Lucus.

The total length of the walls measures over two kilometres and takes up a space of 1.68 hectares. The height of the wall varies between 8 and 10 metres and features 85 towers and 10 gates.

Legend says the Romans built the wall to protect not a city but a forest – Augustus‘ Holy Forest.

Lugo’s Roman walls. Photo: D.Rovchak / Pixabay
 
 

Santiponce, Andalusia

The small town of Santiponce, located in the province of Seville may not be a famed tourist destination, but it is where you’ll find some of the best ruins of a whole Roman city. It was the first Roman city in Spain, founded in 206 BC. Renamed Italica under the reign of Augustus, it was the birthplace of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian. One of the most impressive remains is the amphitheatre, one of the largest in the Roman Empire, with a capacity to hold 25,000 spectators.

There’s also a Roman Theatre, thermal baths, remains of ancient walls and several Roman houses, some complete with stunning Roman mosaics.

Itálica, the ancient Roman city in Spain. Photo: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons
 

Pedrosa de la Vega, Castilla y León

This small Castilla y León town, 60km north of Palencia, is home to a Roman Villa known as La Olmeda, as well as two necropolises. The villa itself began life in the 1st or 2nd century AD, although much of what remains today is from the 4th century.

A palatial home, it has a whopping 35 rooms, which were distributed around a patio and are flanked by two square towers on the north façade and by two octagonal towers on the south façade. 26 of these rooms even have the remains of mosaics, making this the largest set of mosaics existing in a private Roman building today. 

Villa La Olmeda has a collection of incredible Roman mosaics. Photo: Valdavia / Wikimedia Commons
 
 
 
Torre de Hércules, A Coruña, Galicia 
 
The Galician city of A Coruña is not home to the typical Roman structures of the amphitheatres, temples ruins and aqueducts, but it is where you’ll find a unique Roman tower. The Romans constructed the Torre de Hércules between the end of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century as a lighthouse, which is in fact still in operation today.
 
The tower is built on a 57-metre-high rock and rises 55 metres more into the air. Today, 34 metres of it remain from the Roman times and the rest was restored by the architect Eustaquio Giannini in the 18th century. 
 
The Galician Torre de Hércules Roman lighthouse. Photo: PxHere

 

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SPANISH TRADITIONS

Everything you need to know about Mother’s Day in Spain

Here's how and when in May Mother's Day is celebrated in Spain, and why it owes its roots to religion and a Valencian poet.

Published: 3 May 2024 13:37 CEST
Everything you need to know about Mother's Day in Spain

This year, Mother’s Day (El Día de la Madre) is celebrated in Spain on Sunday May 5th. It’s always celebrated on the first Sunday of the month of May.

On this day, young children in Spain give their mothers manualidades (crafts) they’ve made at school as a token of their love.

Husbands and older sons and daughters may buy their wives/mothers a present to say thanks for all that they do as matriarchs, which usually takes the form of a detalle (smaller present than for a birthday or Christmas), and will come accompanied by a message such as te quiero, mamá (I love you, mum).

According to experiences website Aladinia, the average Spaniards spends €65 on gifts on Mother’s Day. 

Other mums may send out text messages to wish each other ¡Feliz Día de la Madre! (Happy Mother’s Day!).

As it’s always celebrated on a Sunday, many shops will be closed but you can expect plenty of restaurants to be open for lunch and perhaps dinner. 

Depending where you’re from, the first Sunday of May may or may not be when you’re used to celebrating Mother’s Day in your home country.

Around the world over 100 countries celebrate Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday, more on the difference below) – 77 in May, 13 in March, and 14 at other times during the year.

Some countries, like the UK, celebrate Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday during Lent, meaning that the date changes each year. This is because Mothering Sunday was originally a Christian holiday in some European countries.

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

Spain, however, celebrates Mother’s Day on the first Sunday in May each year, meaning that it doesn’t have a fixed date either. But it wasn’t always like that.

The history of Mother’s Day in Spain

The first Mother’s Day in Spain was celebrated in Madrid all the way back on October 4th, 1926. Much of the impetus for establishing a day to celebrate mothers came, rather fittingly, from a poet.

Julio Menéndez García, a Valencian poet and public servant, pushed for a special day to celebrate mothers. Spanish newspaper La Libertad published a short section on Garcìa’s efforts in October 1925:

“A Levantine poet, Julio Menéndez García, has had the happy initiative that in Spain and in the Spanish-speaking nations a day should be consecrated to extol the love of mothers. The establishment of Mother’s Day is something tender and sympathetic, which deserves to be welcomed by governments, the press and public opinion, as it involves the highest tribute to women in their most august representation.”

After the Civil War, the church moved the date to December 8th to coincide with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a key holiday among Catholics. 

Civil War-era poster urging Madrid mothers to leave the Spanish capital with their children before the arrival of Franco’s troops. (Photo by AFP)

But it wasn’t until 1965 that Mother’s Day was celebrated in May in Spain. The reason for this change of date was to separate the celebrations (both were considered important enough to have their own day) but also the influence of other countries, namely the United States.

The campaign for a Mother’s Day was originally started by Anna Jarvis, an American wanting to honour her mother, in 1908. By 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson officially signed it into law, establishing a May date. 

However, for many years in Spain department store El Corte Inglés maintained the date of 8th December, meaning that Spain Mother’s Day was celebrated twice a year for a while, commercially speaking at least.

In 1936 a local council in Breña Baja, on the Canary island of La Palma, became the first in Spain to move Mother’s Day to May.

However, in 1965 the church authorities officially decided to move Mother’s Day to May, a month consecrated to the Virgin Mary. May is also the month of female gods in the classical world, and in Catholicism is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Interestingly, Jarvis herself later campaigned against the day, arguing it had become overly commercialised, something Spaniards often bemoan about other imported American customs like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. 

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

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