Send Gift Baskets to Tarragona, Spain

According to Catalan tradition, Tarragona was named after Tarraho, the eldest son of Tubal, in 2407 BC. However, another legend claims Tarragona was named after Tearcon, a 7th-century Egyptian pharaoh who campaigned in Spain, and Tarragona has yet to be known for its exact founding date.

In the past, Tarragona may have been known as Kesse or Kosse, named after the Iberian tribe of the region, the Cossetans. However, the identification of Tarragona with Kesse is still being determined. According to Samuel Bochart, Tarchon means citadel, which was probably the name given to the city by the Phoenicians. The name maple potens Tarraco is derived from its position on a high rock, between 75 and 90 m (250 and 300 ft) above sea level. The city was located on a bay of the Mare Internum (Mediterranean), between the Pyrenees and the river Iberus (modern Ebro), on the Sulcis or Tulcis river (modern Franco). Livy also mentions a Portus Tarraconis. According to Eratosthenes, it had a naval station or roads; however, Artemidorus Ephesius says there was neither, nor hardly even, an anchorage; and Strabo himself calls it “harbourless.” It still provides little protection for ships, although a mole was built in the 15th century with materials from the ancient theater and a second one later by an Irishman named John Smith Sinnot.

On the northeastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, Tarraco is located on the main road. Publius Cornelius Scipio and Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus fortified and enlarged the city as a Roman colony against the Carthaginians during the Roman Republic. As the capital of Hispania Citerior, Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco was first called Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco. As a result, it became the capital of the province named after it, Hispania Tarraconensis (conventus iuridicus).