An Ancient Roman town and a seaside town, more explorations of the southern Spanish coast!
After four days of rain, the sun finally appeared for more explorations of Spain’s southern coast. On the day after Christmas, I journeyed to a lighthouse, some Ancient Roman ruins, and where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean.
In 1805, the grand naval Battle of Trafalgar between the British Royal Navy and the combined French and Spanish fleets commanded by Napoleon occurred right off the coast of the Cape of Trafalgar. Today, you can visit a very nice beach on the cape, as well as its giant 1862 lighthouse.
Look at that awesome fog lifting of the ocean.
It’s a bit far away but there’s the Cape of Trafalgar and the Lighthouse of Trafalgar.
Next stop was the Ancient Roman city of Baelo Claudia, now in the town of Bolonia on the Atlantic coast. Baelo Claudia was founded in the 2nd century BCE because of its easy access to North Africa. This was a tuna fishing town. There was a factory along the shores that would process the tuna, salt it and at least some of it to that nasty Roman condiment, garum, a fermented fish sauce. Yum?
A good portion of the ruined town is available to explore, along with a pretty good museum. The site was very well done and there was a lot of information on the panels. The only issue was that the panels were made out of shiny metal in one of the sunniest parts of Europe. It made it a bit difficult to read.
A flooded city gate. It may have been just a bit rainy the last few days.
Awesome ancient road.
Baelo Claudia sure is in a scenic spot.
Only in the Old World will you see sheep herded through an archaeological site.
All of a sudden, they started heading down my way. I swear the shepherds kept giving the dog wrong directions because the pup had to keep backtracking.
Back to the ruins. This would have been the forum. It had basilica (meeting spot for business and courts) and several shops.
Fish factory! They would salt fish and make garum here.
Fancy columned residential street right next to the fish factory. Gross! I wouldn’t want to live near that.
Even having this view wouldn’t make up for the fish smell.
A very scenic area.
The main street through town.
The market. You can still make out the fancy columned entrances to all the different stalls. It even had a taberna, an Ancient Roman fast-food restaurant. Not much different than today’s malls.
The building with the columns is the basilica. This 1st century CE building was a major meeting place for businessmen. It also served as a kind of courthouse. The basilica collapsed during a major earthquake that struck the town in the 3rd century CE.
A covered walkway along the main street. It was lined with a bunch of shops.
Apparently, the tub at the baths still can hold water.
This was a hot or warm heated room. It had what is called a hypocaust system where hot air from a furnace would be pumped under the floors to heat the room. Hypocausts are usually found in Roman baths as well as in Roman villas built in colder climates.
The ancient theater. They used a natural slope for the seating, putting the stage at the bottom of the hill. It was also built in the 1st century CE and fell into ruin in the 3rd century after an earthquake.
Like many ruined theaters, it has been reconstructed with new seating and stage.
Ruins of a small temple in the ancient forum.
The forum is a plaza with official buildings, temples, and shops around it. Businessmen often would meet in the forum to conduct business. There was a temple in the bottom right. Look for the white columns.
An aqueduct crosses what used to be a stream. Aqueducts were often underground only appearing when crossing low areas like this.
Now onward to Tarifa, a port city on the southern coast. If you are looking for a ferry to Northern Africa, this is where you go. I wanted to go on a day trip to Morocco from here, but the borders were still closed because of Covid. Tarifa was a fortified town under Muslim control because of its closeness to Northern Africa. A small island south of the town, now connected by a causeway, is considered the official spot where the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea meet. You can’t go on the island which has a lighthouse. It’s stupid.
I parked below the weird Castle of St. Catalina and its concrete bunkers, which are on a bluff near to the water.
The causeway where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet.
The island is basically a fort and is used by the government, which is sad because it’s also the southernmost point of Europe.
Gorgeous coast.
Looking back on Tarifa with the weird Castle of St. Catalina on the left and the Castle of Guzman the Good (Castillo de Guzmán el Bueno), our next destination.
The castle was built in the 10th century by a Muslim king and later taken over by the new Christian rulers 1292. The castle is named after Alonso Pérez de Guzmán refused to surrender the castle to the rebellious son of the current king of Castile who had attacked the city.
That’s an impressive tower.
A classic castle.
Right angle turns are typical of Moorish style fortress gates. It caused enemies to slow down.
The heart of the tenth century castle. The white structure on the left was used as a granary.
The castle keep dates from the Christian era, built between the 14th-15th centuries.
Some of the medieval decorations poking through.
I swear in the foggy distance is Africa. I could just make out the coastal mountains.
The tower is just sticking out there.
The Puerta de Jerez. I guess the road to Jerez used to run through it.
The southern coast of Spain is a hotspot for beach tourism during the summer, but you can easily find stuff to entertain you even in the off season. The ruins of Baelo Claudia and the town of Tarifa were fun to explore. These are only a couple of the many things to do in the area.
Check out my next update where I explore a unique part of the United Kingdom, Gibraltar!
or
Start at the beginning of my travels around Spain!
