Tarragona (Catalan: [tərəˈɣonə], Spanish: [taraˈɣona] ⓘ; Latin: Tarraco) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain).

The moniker likely stemmed from its location atop a high rock, approximately 75–90 m (250–300 ft) above sea level; earning it the epithet arce potens Tarraco.

[6] Livy mentions a portus Tarraconis;[7] and according to Eratosthenes it had a naval station or roads (Ναύσταθμον);[8] but Artemidorus Ephesius says with more probability that it had none, and scarcely even an anchoring place; and Strabo himself refers to it as "harbourless" (ἀλίμενος).

[14] Its fertile plain and sunny shores are celebrated by Martial and other poets; and its neighbourhood is described as producing good wine and flax.

[16] An inscribed stone base for a now lost statue of Tiberius Claudius Candidus was found in Tarragona during the nineteenth century.

The 24-line Latin inscription describes the governor and senator's career as an ally of the future Roman emperor Septimius Severus, who fought in the civil war following the assassination of Commodus in 192 AD.

During the Reapers' War, Tarragona was captured by Catalan insurgents with French support in 1641, but it was retaken by Spanish troops in 1644.

It was captured by allied Portuguese, Dutch, and British troops in 1705 during the War of the Spanish Succession and remained in their hands until the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

A laver, possibly used by the Jews for ritual purification found in Tarragona bears the inscription "peace over Israel, over ourselves, and our children."

A British naval squadron commanded by Admiral Edward Codrington harassed the French besiegers with cannon fire and transported large numbers of reinforcements into the city by sea.

The second century Tarragona Amphitheatre near the seashore was extensively used as a quarry after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and but few vestiges of it now remain.

A circus c. 450 m (1,480 ft) long, was built over in the area now called Plaça de la Font, though portions of it are still to be traced.

There is a monument about 6 km (4 mi) along the coast road east of the city, commonly called the "Tower of the Scipios"; but there is no authority for assuming that they were buried here.

The seminary of Sant Pau and Santa Tecla was founded in 1570 by the cardinal archbishop, Gaspar Cervantes de Gaeta, and was the first to comply with the decrees of the Council of Trent.

50 km (31.07 mi) north of the city is Poblet Monastery, founded in 1151 by Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, which was used for sepultures of the kings.

The city is served by Camp de Tarragona high-speed railway station, and is located a few kilometres away from Reus Airport, which offers low-cost charter-flights (over a million passengers per year).

[25] Reus is the second city of the Tarragona area (101,767 inhabitants in 2006), known by its commercial activity and for being the place where the architect Antoni Gaudí was born.

[27] Tourism is focused on the main sites of Mercat Central de Tarragona (Central Market of Tarragona), La Rambla Nova (the main shopping street), El Serrallo fishing village, the surrounding beaches of the golden coast, the key plazas (Plaça de la Font, Plaça del Fòrum, Plaça del Rei), Balcó del Mediterrani, Praetorium and Roman Circus, Roman Amphitheatre, Model of Roman Tarraco, and the cathedral.

[29] Tarragona contains a number of small bars, restaurants, and cafes serving tapas and sandwiches, and local seafood and Catalan dishes like "pa amb tomàquet" or "neules i torrons".

Winters are mildly cool and summers are warm and sultry, while the wettest seasons are spring and autumn, which receive around 54 to 77 mm (2.1 to 3.0 in) in May and September.