The look of modern Tarragona still has elusive traces of the ancient Tarraco settlement. To learn more about this period in the history of the famous Costa Daurada resort, visit the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona. Its website states that a museum tour is a journey into Romanesque culture. The exhibition will interest school-age children, but we recommend taking advantage of the free admission for children under 8 to show them Roman togas or the sculpture of the she-wolf who nursed Remus and Romulus.
The Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona (MNAT) is the oldest museum in Catalonia. It dates back to the early 19th century, and today, it displays valuable archaeological finds from the excavations at the site of Tarraco.
The exposition occupies three floors. Separate rooms are dedicated to Romanesque architecture, works of art, everyday objects, religion, crafts, agriculture and navigation. In very bright, spacious rooms, you can see fragments of buildings with elegant decorations, marble tablets with inscriptions in Latin, statues, parts of mosaics, perfectly preserved coins with temples and profiles of emperors and much more. These objects give an idea of how life was organised in Tarraco, how the city's administration was organised and how the locals spent their free time.
Some exhibits will attract children's attention in the hall dedicated to everyday objects. These toys are not very similar to those used today, such as a bronze rattle or an ivory articulated doll. In the same room, you can learn about children's games that remind us of the familiar hide-and-seek or tic-tac-toe.
The Archaeological Museum of Tarragona also focuses on Romanesque culinary traditions. After visiting this part of the exposition, the traditions of Spanish cuisine will become clear. Well, after the tour you can see the Necropolis, discovered during archaeological excavations, where now there is a museum of early Christianity and a theatre. There are also other ruins of Romanesque buildings in the vicinity of Tarragona.
