Torre dels Escipions
The monument Torre dels Escipions (Spanish Torre de los Escipiones , German Tower of the Scipions ) is a Roman tomb on the Spanish national road N-340 about 6 kilometers north of Tarragona , near the town of Altafulla . It is one of the most important funerary monuments from Roman times on the Iberian Peninsula and part of the archaeological ensemble of Tarraco , which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 .
The Tower of the Scipions was built in the 1st century on the former Via Augusta , one of the most important highways in the Roman province of Hispania . Its base is approximately square with dimensions of 4.47 × 4.72 m, the height (without the end that is missing today) is 9.17 m. The building, which tapers upwards on three levels, is made of large stone blocks of local origin, which are believed to come from the nearby Pedrera del Mèdol quarry , which supplied most of the stones for the buildings of ancient Tarraco.
The front of the monument (i.e. the side formerly facing the Via Augusta) is decorated on the second level with two male figures in the form of a high relief . These figures were mistakenly identified as the Scipion brothers Publius Cornelius Scipio and Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus - hence the name commonly used today - but in all likelihood they represent Attis , a Roman deity of death with origins in Greek mythology, which was used to symbolize the Mourning for the deceased was depicted on tombs.
The third level contains a chamber in which the urns with the ashes of the people buried here were kept. The outside shows the remains of a badly weathered inscription, an epitaph , which apart from the word "Cornelius" can no longer be deciphered. In addition, there is a bas-relief in the form of an archway with two people standing in it. Presumably it was the image of the people buried here, who - in view of the monumental and magnificent character of the tomb - must have come from one of the leading Tarraco families.
The end of the monument was formed by a pyramid , which is no longer preserved.
literature
- Xavier Aquilué, Xavier Dupré, Jaume Massó, Joaquín Ruiz de Arbulo: Tarraco. An archaeological guide . Médol, Tarragona 1992, ISBN 84-86542-54-5 , p. 88.
- Theodor Hauschild in: Walter Trillmich , Annette Nünnerich-Asmus (ed.): Hispania Antiqua - Monuments of the Roman Age. von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1547-3 , pp. 332f. and plate 115.
Web links
- Views of the monument on the Historia de la Arquitecturaen España website (Spanish)
- Tarraco Archaeological Ensemble - UNESCO World Heritage (English, French)
Coordinates: 41 ° 7 '55.3 " N , 1 ° 19' 7.9" E