The Volta del Pallol and the layout of the Roman Tarraco
After entering the Upper town through the Portal del Roser, we get to the square of palm Trees, which received its name from a structure included in the UNESCO world heritage list. The pallol storage building ( Volta del Pallol on the map it was built on the ruins of the Roman provincial forum of Tarraco. Since 1462, the building belonged to the Dominican monastery and was used as a Church. in 1522, the monastery moved outside the city walls, and the building became the property of the city, after which the city's grain storage was established here. This gave the building its name-the palm-barn, and the square in front of it. Today the building is used as a municipal exhibition hall.
Opposite is the former courthouse (Antiga audiència) built at the end of the 20th century on Roman ruins. It is now home to the Centre Cultural El Pallol, part of the ground floor of which is occupied by the excavation of ancient foundations.
The main exhibit of the Center is a grandiose model showing how the Roman Tarraco looked during its heyday in the second century ad.
This is the largest reconstruction in Europe created on the occasion of the inclusion of Tarragona in the UNESCO world heritage list in 2006.
The reconstruction was created on the basis of data obtained during excavations and is constantly updated with new details. The layout is made in a scale of 1: 500 and has an area of 20 square meters.