Tortosa, Centre històric
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The Tortosa old town is close to the Ebro, a river that since ancient times has been a natural entry from the sea towards the inland Peninsula. Tortosa is a city linked to the fluvial trade and to the cultural exchange. Saracens, Jews and Christians inhabited the city and left a rich historical and artistic patrimony that nowadays can be visited. The fundacional side of the town is articulated around the moslem Castle of La Suda. It is in the highest side of the old town and with the Christian occupation it was a public prison and royal residence. The structure of the castle suffered lots of modifications during the XV and XVII centuries, when the military requirements had to build several small forts, like the Avançades de Sant Joan .
The Cathedral of Santa Maria was initiated in the XIV century. We have to remark the baroque chapel of the Virgin de la Cinta. In the Cathedral Museum there is an Arab chest of wood and ivory, the silver of the high altar and up to 200 pictures, sculpture, gold work that come from the XII century.
The Episcopal Palace was built between the XIII - XIV century. It has got a patio. As a witness of the religious activity of the town, you should visit the Royal Schools, a set of buildings from the XVI century founded by King Carles V and built by King Phillip II in order to educate the Moriscs or new Christians. there is a Renaissance courtyard, which is considered to be unique in Catalonia. A tour around the old town can also include a walk along the Ebro or along the Jewish district, one of the most ancient in Catalonia. Although most of the buildings are newer, you can see the tracing of the narrow and tortuous streets that communicate small squares with wells. Finally in the Eixample (widening) you can see the magnificent modernist buildings that were built at the end of the XIX century and beginning of the XX. One of the most representative modernist buildings in Tortosa is the Municipal Slaughterhouse, by architect Pau Monguió. It is made out of a set of pavilions that combine closed and open spaces. The Municipal Market is another typical construction of the period. It is a rectangular building with metallic structure in the covering.
The Tourist information office is situated in Carrilet square and proposes several routes that allow to know in an organized way the Christian, Moslem and Jewish peculiarity and the modernist legacy that the town has preserved.
For further information:
Tourist information office
Carrilet Square, 1. Tortosa
Tel. (0034) 977 44 96 48 www.turismetortosa.cómo
GPS information: Latitude: N40.81
º Longitude : E0.52º
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