Ampurias Roman City Wall. It had a sophisticated design with a hollow centre allowing defending soldiers to move under cover
Ampurias, also known as Empúries was a town on the Mediterranean coast of the Catalan comarca of Alt Empordà in Catalonia, Spain. It was founded in 575 BC by Greek colonists from Phocaea with the name of Emporion, It was later occupied by the Romans but in the Early Middle Ages, when its exposed coastal position left it open to marauders, the town was abandoned. The ruins are midway between the Costa Brava town of L'Escala and the tiny village of Sant Martí. Ampurias was founded on a small island at the mouth of the river Fluvià, in a region inhabited by the Indigetes. This city came to be known as the Palaiapolis, the "old city" when, towards 550 BC, the inhabitants moved to the mainland, creating the Neapolis, the "new city". Of the Roman city only some 20% has been excavated thus far. It has the typical orthogonal layout of Roman military camps, with two principal roads meeting at the forum. The Roman city is considerably larger than the Greek one. During the Republican period a temple was built dedicated to the Capitoline Triad: Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. During the reign of the emperor Augustus a basilica and curia were added. In the eastern part of the town a number of large houses have been excavated, with an inner courtyard, numerous annexes, floor mosaics, and paintings. In the 2nd century the town was surrounded by a wall without towers. An amphitheatre and palaestra were built outside the wall.
Size: 3648px × 5472px
Location: Unnamed Road, 17130 L'Escala, Girona, Spain
Photo credit: © Roger Hollingsworth / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: aesculapius, ampurias, brava, catalan, catalonia, city, city-state, costa, defence, emporion, empuries, excavation, fluvia, greek, indigetes, island, lescala, marauder, marti, neapolis, necropolis, palaiapolis, phocaea, punic, riun, river, roman, sant, soldier, spain, town, wall, wars
