Punic etymology Ta-Aragona in
Phoenician language means "the Aragona", the native Iberian term for the
Ebro Valley.
Mythical origins One Catalan legend holds that Tarragona was named for
Tarraho, eldest son of
Tubal in c. 2407 BC; another (derived from Strabo and
Megasthenes) attributes the name to '
Tearcon the Ethiopian', a seventh-century BC pharaoh who campaigned in Spain. The real founding date of Tarragona is unknown.
Theories of origin The city's origins trace back to a possible Iberian settlement known as Kesse or Kosse, named after the local Iberian tribe, the Cossetans. However, the exact connection of Tarragona to Kesse remains uncertain. Scholars such as
William Smith suggest that the city may have been established by the
Phoenicians, who referred to it as . According to
Samuel Bochart, signifies a citadel. The moniker likely stemmed from its location atop a high rock, approximately above sea level; earning it the epithet . It was seated on the river Sulcis or Tulcis (modern
Francolí), on a bay of the Mare Internum (Mediterranean), between the Pyrenees and the River Iberus (modern
Ebro).
Livy mentions a ; and according to
Eratosthenes it had a naval station or roads (); but
Artemidorus Ephesius says with more probability that it had none, and scarcely even an anchoring place; and Strabo himself refers to it as "harbourless" ().
Rome Tarraco lies on the main road along the northeastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. During the
Roman Republic, the city was fortified and much enlarged as a Roman colony by the brothers
Publius Cornelius Scipio and
Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, who converted it into a fortress and arsenal against the
Carthaginians. The city was first named
Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco and was capital of the province of
Hispania Citerior. Subsequently, it became the capital (
conventus iuridicus) of the province named after it,
Hispania Tarraconensis.
Augustus wintered at Tarraco after his Cantabrian campaign, and bestowed many marks of honour on the city, among which were its honorary titles of
Colonia Victrix Togata and
Colonia Julia Victrix Tarraconensis. According to Mela, it was the richest town on the coast, and Strabo represents its population as equal to that of Carthago Nova (now
Cartagena). The city also minted coins. An inscribed stone base for a now lost statue of
Tiberius Claudius Candidus was found in Tarragona during the nineteenth century. The 24-line Latin inscription describes the governor and senator's career as an ally of the future Roman emperor
Septimius Severus, who fought in the civil war following the assassination of
Commodus in 192 AD. This important marble block was purchased by the
British Museum in 1994.
From the demise of the Roman Empire to the union of Spain After the demise of the
Western Roman Empire, the city was captured by the
Vandals and the
Visigoths. The
Visigothic Kingdom's rule of Tarracona was ended by the
Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 714. It was an important border city of the
Caliphate of Córdoba between 750 and 1013. After the demise of the Caliphate, it was part of the
Taifa of Zaragoza between 1013 and 1110 and under the control of the
Almoravid dynasty between 1110 and 1117. It was taken by the
County of Barcelona in 1117. From 1129 to 1173 Tarragona was the capital of the short lived
Principality of Tarragona, under the
Norman-influence. After the dynastic union of
Aragon and
Barcelona, it was part of the
Principality of Catalonia within the
Crown of Aragon from 1164 to 1714. After dynastic union of
Aragon and the
Crown of Castile, it remained a part of the Crown of Aragon until the foundation of the
Spanish Empire in 1516. During the
Reapers' War, Tarragona was captured by Catalan insurgents with French support in 1641, but it was retaken by Spanish troops in 1644. It was captured by allied Portuguese, Dutch, and British troops in 1705 during the
War of the Spanish Succession and remained in their hands until the
Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. During the war, the Catalans supported the unsuccessful claim of
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen against the victorious
Bourbon Duke of Anjou, who became
Philip V of Spain. He signed the
Nueva Planta decrees, which abolished the
Crown of Aragon, as well as the Catalan institutions and prohibited the administrative use of Catalan language on 16 January 1716.
Jewish history The
Jewish community in Tarragona was established during the Roman era, making it one of the most ancient Jewish communities in Spain. A
laver, possibly used by the Jews for
ritual purification found in Tarragona bears the inscription "peace over Israel, over ourselves, and our children." Coins with
Hebrew inscriptions have also been found, dating to the Visigoth period. During Muslim rule, Jews in Tarragona prospered;
Muhammad al-Idrisi nicknamed Tarragona "the city of the Jews." After the Christian reconquest, the Jews of Tarragona faced institutional persecution and anti-semitic restrictions until the community's destruction in 1492, during the
expulsion of the Jews.
Peninsular War During the
Peninsular War, in the first
siege of Tarragona from 5 May to 29 June 1811,
Louis-Gabriel Suchet's Army of Aragon of the
First French Empire laid siege to a Spanish garrison led by Lieutenant General
Juan de Contreras. A British naval squadron commanded by Admiral
Edward Codrington harassed the French besiegers with cannon fire and transported large numbers of reinforcements into the city by sea. Nevertheless, Suchet's troops stormed into the defences and killed or captured almost all the defenders. It became a subprefecture centre in
Bouches-de-l'Èbre department of French empire. In the second
siege of Tarragona (3–11 June 1813), an overwhelming Anglo-Spanish force under the command of Lieutenant general
John Murray, 8th Baronet failed to wrest Tarragona from a small Franco-Italian garrison led by Brigadier general
Antoine Marc Augustin Bertoletti. Murray was subsequently removed from command for his indecisive and contradictory leadership. The Anglo-Spanish forces finally captured Tarragona on 19 August.
Spanish Civil War During the
Spanish Civil War, Tarragona was in the hands of the
Second Spanish Republic until captured by
Franco's Nationalist troops on 15 January 1939 during the
Catalonia Offensive. ==Main sights==