Thursday, May 18, 2006

Tarragona

In Tarragona there exists a Roman wall built before Christianity was born. It is fashioned of stones meters thick, hand carved by masters over 2000 years ago. In some places, it is crumbling, finally giving way to gravity and time as all things eventually must. But these failings have been recent, as recent as November of 2005. In most places, the wall still delineates a city that is thriving in the modern while embracing its past – and in some very clever ways.

Take the Cathedral, a miraculous structure in which the original Roman temple wall served as a starting point for the construction of the 12th Century cloister and church. Added to again in the 13th, 14th and 16th centuries, this is a place where you can literally spin 360 degrees and see over 2000 years of history. Even better, if you are me and the luckiest little girl in the world, you can go behind the scenes to the excavations of the ruins of the Roman temple, the remains of beautiful medieval archways, and follow the medieval spiral staircase to the tip top of the 15th century bell tower. I even got to see some 18th century graffiti!

If churches aren’t your bag, then you may be wondering how that Roman wall would fare when, let’s just say, an architecture school decides to build on the same site. In Tarragona you get a marvelous lecture hall in which 2 of the 4 walls are – you guessed it – the exposed Roman stone wall, aged and beautifully incorporated into a functional and modern design.
Between the two visits and a wonderful explanation from the team of two architects heading the restoration of the Cathedral, I am elated. This is exactly the type of work I would love to do - the painstaking process of finding creative solutions for centuries old drainage problems… finding master craftsmen to excavate… restore stone, wood, glass, tile… These specialists bring crumbling structures new life, marking the past and making it applicable to the present.

Trust me, with proper upkeep, that 6 foot thick solid stone wall ain’t going anywhere anytime soon. I guess we just don’t make ‘em like we used to.

On a more personal note, the cool weather may have kept me out of the ocean, but it did not prevent me from enjoying the beautiful view of the coast. Tarragona is lovely, and you can gaze upon its gardens and towers as you sit in the ancient Roman amphitheatre enjoying the breeze from the water. I could see why this place was built as a Roman playground - chariot arenas, gladiators, and animal fights all vying for the attention of the 100,000 + people who occupied the town during that time.

Back in Barcelona, the horns and cheers are still blaring in the streets as people celebrate the victory of the football team. My feet hurt and I am exhausted, but I can’t seem to be upset about the grueling pace or lack of sleep. Perhaps it’s just delirium setting in, but the sites that I have seen are causing me to understand Robert Hughes love for this Catalonian world, and even almost sympathize with his schizophrenic writings in Barcelona, The Great Enchantress. I am beginning to understand how he can relate seemingly random topics, because here – well, it is all equally precious.

You know, except the stuff that they already tore down. Presumably they’ve made some mistakes. When you have quite a few centuries to work with though…

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