Torre dels Escipions

The monument Torre dels Escipions (Spanish Torre de los Escipiones, German Tower of the Scipios ) is a Roman tomb on the Spanish national road N -340 about 6 kilometers north of Tarragona, near the village of Altafulla. It is one of the most important grave monuments from the Roman period in the Iberian peninsula and part of the archeological ensemble of Tarraco, which was in 2000 declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Tower of the Scipios was built in the 1st century on the former Via Augusta, one of the main highways of the Roman province of Hispania. Its surface area is approximately square with a dimension of 4.47 × 4.72 m, the height ( without the now non completion ) is 9.17 m. The building, which tapers to three levels upward, is built of large stone blocks of local origin, probably from the nearby quarry Pedrera del Mèdol, who supplied much of the stone for the buildings of ancient Tarraco.

The front of the monument (that is, formerly the Via Augusta facing page ) is decorated on the second level with two male figures in the form of a high- reliefs. Erroneously these figures as the Scipios brothers Publius Cornelius Scipio and Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus were identified - hence today's standard wording - but they represent in all likelihood, Attis, a Roman death deity originating in Greek mythology, the to symbolize Grief was mapped to the deceased on grave times.

The third level contains a chamber in which the urns were placed with the ashes of the interred here people. The outside shows the remains of a badly weathered inscription, an epitaph, which is hard to make up the word " Cornelius ." In addition, here is a bas-relief in the form of an archway, in which two people are to recognize. Probably it was the picture of the interred here those - must come from one of the leading families Tarracos - given the monumental and magnificent character of the tomb.

The conclusion of the monument formed a pyramid, but this is no longer maintained.