Empuries - the Greeks & Romans in Spain

The first impression I get as I drive into the parking area, with the turquoise waves in front of me, is that the Greeks looked at this same exact view more than 2000 years ago. That is really something!

Empuries is located in the stretch of land of the Gulf of Roses, protected from the open sea, and flanked on each side by two promontories, Roses to the north, and l’Escala to the south.

I’ve been reading about the Greek and Roman colonization of the area, so my mind is full of the literature, and now I’m going to see the real thing, and I feel tingly with anticipation. However, I feel compelled to warn the casual tourist of possible disappointment. The Greek city is leveled and the Roman city has not been fully excavated. So, someone expecting a small version of Athens or Rome will be very, very, VERY disappointed.

If this is the case, you should see this little excursion as part of a day trip to this beautiful area, including the stunning beaches below and the “Passeig dels Enamorats” (The Lovers’ Path) between Sant Martí d’Empuries and l’Escala.

Now, back to why we’re here.

The set of ruins closest to the beach belong to the Greek city, and is called the Neapolis (or New City). This is the main Greek settlement, but it is not where the Greeks first landed, or even the first Greek city. The first “city” called the Palaiapolis (or Old City) was founded less than a mile away on an island, which is now Sant Martí d’Empúries (and not an island anymore with the subsequent land gains).

The Palaiapolis was founded by the Phoceans (Greek Turks) as a trading post between their wester capital in Marseille and the local Iberian tribe known as the Indigetes. The Phoceans called this trading post Emporion (Market). The Neapolis was settled soon after, when it became clear that this trading post was to become permanent and the Indigetes proved themselves to be “friendly.” I put this in quotation marks, because the Greeks still deemed it necessary to wall their city. From then on, this Greek outpost flourished.

The water filtration sysytem.

Since the ruins are basically a floor plan of the city, the focal interest of this visit is what is found at ground level and below; in particular, the mosaics, and the extensive system of water cisterns. Water was collected both from rain from roofs and through very ingeniously designed water filters, and from wells. Sewage troughs have also been found in the market area (those Greeks were serious about their hygiene!).

Also of note is the grandiosity of some of the foundation rocks (almost boulder-size). I took a picture of one of them. There were some kids playing in the grassy knoll beside this rock, and I asked them if they would be willing to stand beside it to get a feeling for the relative size of these rocks, but alas, they only laughed at me.

I work my way up through the old streets until I reach the highest point called the Acropolis, and looked down into the sea, past the floor plans of the homes, the open air Agora, and the Stoa (market), which is now in the process of further excavations, since a more “modern” paleo-Christian church and crypt had been built over it.

Behind the Acropolis are the Greek walls, and a lime kiln. I didn’t read the information sign at the kiln, and now I regret it, because after conducting some research online, I have not found anything about it. Now, I’m obsessed! I did find somewhere that lime kilns are found in most Greek archaeological digs and were typically constructed in the Middle Ages to burn the pagan Greek marble statues to make cement! But, I can’t be sure that this is the case with the one in Empúries, so I’ll leave it to one of our guests to find out, and report back. If it is in fact Greek, it would make sense that it is placed here, because the breeze from the sea would take the foul smell of limestone cooking away from the polis. There is, though, a clay kiln for the many vases and amphora and other ceramic bric-a-brac found in the Museum.

One of the private homes excavated also shows a floor mosaic with a Greek inscription which reads “How Sweet it is to Be Reclined,” leading archaeologists to believe that this room was dedicated to the sweet reclining activity of the Symposium, where citizens (landed gentry/free men) could meet, relax and discuss their day’s work over fish and wine. There is no mention of what the women were doing, but I have a feeling that they were most likely in the kitchen, gossiping.

The Museum is worth seeing for the objects that were found during the excavation, and which are now housed away from prodding hands and the beating sun. The statue believed to be of Asclepius (the god of medicine, and the son of Apollo and Coronis) is now also housed here. And I say: believed to be, because some archaeologists are unimpressed, and think it might actually be a Roman statue of Jupiter, or Serapis, or even Agathodaimon (who’s that?) The uncertainty lies in the fact that the Romans also built over the Greek city, and the two cultures lived in harmony for some years before the Greeks were completely absorbed into Roman society and religion.

Above the Greek ruins, past the Museum, are the ruins of the Roman city. The Emporion citizens opened up their arms in welcome to the Romans when they arrived in a battle ship bearing large armament, an inordinate number of troops, and an impressive Roman general named Scipio. The Greeks must have been pretty impressed indeed, as the normal ships docking on the port were for commercial purposes. But Scipio landed at Empuries and said: “We are here to fight the terrible Hannibal, of Carthage, and his thousand elephants, who are crossing the Pyrenees, on their way to burn Rome!” So, the first Roman city actually served as a military encampment.

But the Romans liked it here. They saw an economically rewarding future here, and decided to stay. So over the military settlement, they built a sprawling metropolis, with streets and avenues, with some beautiful private homes, a Forum for public life, temples, public baths, and even an amphitheater, and they called it Emporiae. From this humble beginning, these Roman entrepreneurs went on to build a sophisticated network of roads, the Via Augusta being the principal one, and other Roman cities, such as Barcino (Barcelona), Tarraconensis (Tarragona)…, and in fact, colonizing most of the Iberian peninsula. Russel Crowe, for example, was from Emerita Augusta, in modern Spain’s Mérida, in the Extremadura region in the southwest, then called Lusitania.

Because the Greeks had been so welcoming the first time, they were allowed to keep their “independence.”

The Roman city is about ten times as big as the Greek city, but it is mostly unexcavated. A very nice manicured garden separates the two cities, and where most of the Greek city is off-limits to wandering tourists (you are only allowed to meander through the “streets”), the Roman city is open to the minutest inspection. You can wander into the private homes, walk all over their mosaics, touch the sculpted columns and sit on the now half-ruined walls.

I look back, and through the pines, I see the glistening city of l’Escala as it juts out of the blue-green Mediterranean.

I’m starting to feel saturated from the visit. I’ve now been here for over two hours. I decide to visit the Forum, and then leave. The Forum has been reconstructed for our viewing pleasure, and this is how tired I am from cultural absorption: I think to myself that this would be a great place for a wedding reception, and I imagine myself inhaling some tapas and sipping (guzzling) chilled Cava, as I recline on some cushions on the floor, and now I remember the “sweet reclining” of the Symposium, and think how things haven’t changed much since classical times.

Behind the Forum, we could have at one time been able to buy goods from the commercial stalls that line the Forum walls. A thin line of concrete separates what was the original wall structure found, and the reconstructed bit.

Beyond the Forum is the Insula, the first suburb of town houses ever built in this area. And I’m done. I can go no further. I see the remains of the amphitheater beckoning to me, but I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. I turn away and trudge back to the car.
See pics here.

How to get there: The road to this living museum and archaeological site is easy, modern and well marked; it is a 50 minute drive from the hotel. Take the N-II towards Girona, to the C-31 (Marked as the Exit to LA BISBAL/L’ESCALA/FIGUERES. Take this road to l’Escala/Viladamat. Right before you enter l’Escala, on the straightaway and before the first large round-about, you’ll see a Tourist Office on the right. If you want, you can stop by and get your information for the area here. They have ample parking, and you can sit in your car as you decide what you want to do in this area, and after your visit to EMPURIES.

As soon as you get to the large round-about, follow the signs to RUINES d’EMPURIES. Keep following the signs which will take you through a residential neighborhood. The ruins are at the end of this residential street, and you will have to stop and pay before you park under a pine-tree canopied expanse.

Admission: 3€ for adults. Kids free.

Hours: June to September: from 10 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. | From October to May: from 10 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Closed: December 25 & 26, and January 1.