Empúries, Alt Empordà, Catalunya, Spain
Less than two hours up the coast from Barcelona, you’ll find the site of the first important Greek–then Roman–settlement on the Iberian Peninsula… a must-see for aficionados of history and archeology.
Most of what you will view, however, was reconstructed in the early to mid-20th century when major, modern excavations began (and which are still slowly ongoing). Apparently, to date, only 20-25% of the area has been properly excavated, so there may be important finds yet buried beneath the sands.
The Timeline
575 BCE – Greek founding.
218 BCE – Romans take over.
195 BCE – Roman military camp established.
4th/5th centuries AD – Christian religion changes the city. Paleochristian chapel built.
859 to 935 AD – Viking raids, sacked by the Normans, then conquered by the Muslims; site falls into ruin.
16th century – Nearby fishing village of l’Escala is founded.
17th century – Roughly 1606, a small hermitage built here.
19th/20th century – First major archeological excavations of the site.
If you look closely at those dates, that means that this little city of Empúries was, for over 1,000 years, a major trading post, port, and colony on the Mediterranean coast of Iberia. Now that’s a huge chunk o’ time!
Photography Notes
What follows are the best pictures I was able to make, given the mid-day, high-contrast conditions, and the generally boring sky. In such situations, sometimes B&W is a good option as color images would tend to be quite uninteresting (IMHO, of course). For me, B&W also fits in with the theme of archeology and things long past.
I would love to return on a day with stormy skies… or during the golden “hours” of dawn/dusk.
All photos were made using the Nikon D850 and hand-held. Lenses: 14-24mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, and 70-200mm f/4, Nikkors. The digital files were processed through Adobe Photoshop Elements and Nik Silver Efex Pro.
Images: The Greek Settlement…
One of the most interesting finds, during excavations in 1909, was this statue of Asclepius, the Greek god and hero of medicine. In that left arm (missing here) was likely the iconic snake-entwined staff that is still used today as the symbol of medicine (take a look at your Blue Cross insurance card, for example). This statue, which dominates the ruins, is apparently a replica, with the original on display inside the nearby museum building.
A close-up view:
The following scenes of the old Greek settlement reflect a 19th and 20th century reconstruction of the area. The actual Greek archeological “finds” were/are underneath what you can now see as a walk-through tourist. In this picture, the holes in the stones on the left could mean that structural wooden beams were once inserted there, although those blocks are almost certainly not in their original location.
Note the one, lone column section at the top right. Doric, perhaps?
Several cisterns, which served as the city’s water supply for centuries, are visible among the ruins.
A Greek mosaic that was once on the floor of a banquet hall. My very amateur translation of the word on the left was “EDULOITUS”. However, a Greek expert in our family pointed out that this is actually two words, the first being a verb in a difficult form to detect. Thus, a translation might be: “May everything you do in this room be pleasurable.” Wow, all that from just a few letters???
This sensually eroded rock caught my eye, surrounded as it was by piles and piles of square, rectangular, and jagged stone. Was it along the sea coast, back in the day? Who moved it, or was it the sea that moved?
Images: The Roman city…
The Roman settlement is farther from the sea coast, on the large, open mesa above the Greek area, and the old Roman wall you’ll find there is quite spectacular, with long sections still standing.
The several construction layers are obvious in these two close-ups, with the cheaper “Roman concrete” on top:
Outside the wall, on the western side, you can see the remains of a small amphitheater. There was a gymnasium here as well.
On the northwest corner of the Roman city, one can actually walk inside a section of the wall. Was this a protected and semi-secret way to move troops back and forth around the fortifications as needed?
Finally, clouds! Having something in the sky always makes a composition much more interesting. I liked the rhymning of the clouds with the tall plants in the foreground… and the two distant contrails, a large one on the left and a smaller one on the right. This view is from inside the walls of the Roman city–note the buildup of dirt and rock on the left while the middle and right areas appear to have been excavated at some point (perhaps by the Spanish Civil War prisoners who “worked” here during and after that conflict?).
A view from outside the main western entrance, looking in. Beyond the lone column is a portion of the forum wall, built recently to demonstrate what the structure may have been like back in the day. If you look at the stone pavers at the entrance, you can still see the ruts caused by the rough passage of thousands of carts over roughly one thousand years. Ah, if ghosts could talk… or we could travel through time to invisibly hover over this spot…
Inside, looking out the west gate… again, note the build up of dirt and rock against the wall. More unexcavated areas?
A modern reconstruction of a section of a forum wall… looking like a distant cousin to the obelisk of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The forum proper is to the right, lined with partially reconstructed columns.
The Roman forum–plenty of space for festivals, fairs, and other events.
The northeast sector of the Roman city has been extensively excavated and the mosaics that were uncovered here are impressive.
And the occasional archway…
But back to the mosaics… A strangely ominous image, no? The Invisible Man as photographer working with the phantom of a Roman woman…
Think about the planning and execution involved in laying this down, so many centuries ago. Today, what would your local tile setter charge you for such a floor in your house?
Looking southwest, this is the excavated northeast sector, with the forum in the distance on the right. The western wall is barely visible in the far distance against the treeline.
Two more very impressive mosiacs. According to a woman at the visitor’s center, they were found this way by the archeologists–very little reconstruction was necessary. If true, what a spectacular find.
Images: Christianity arrives…
A small chapel was built in the Greek area of Empúries sometime in the 5th or 6th centuries. This may be a part of the floor plus four or five niches/altars from said chapel.
This area of the Greek settlement, in later times, was used as a cemetery and ransacked tombs were discovered here by the hundreds. On the bottom right is what appears to be a sarcophagus lid. Did the round “lids” also serve the same purpose?
The Museum
In 1606, a convent got its start here–Santa Maria de Gràcia d’Empúries–and was active until the early 19th century, after which it fell into ruin. In 1917, it was rebuilt and converted into a museum to house the findings from the active excavations of the time. Currently, they are apparently renovating once again in order to open a larger museum space in the building.
Inside the museum, you can see the original statue of Asclepius, discovered in 1909. Note the left hand, missing most of the fingers that once held the serpent-staff.
Images: The Trees
These are “stone pines” (pinus pinea), and are common along the Mediterranean coast. I liked the bark patterns and how they tend to group themselves into wonderful compositions to await the aware photographer.
