Arc de BerÃ
The Arc de Berà ( Catalan for bow Berà ), often also written Arc de Calafell, is a Roman triumphal arch at today's national road N -340, between the villages of Roda de Berà and Creixell in Catalonia. It is part of the archaeological ensemble of Tarraco, 2000 was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The honorary arches over the Via Augusta, which is the longest Roman Road in Hispania with about 1,500 kilometers. The modern highway to Barcelona led until 1937 by the arc. It consists of limestone, possibly from a quarry nearby, and is adorned with false pilasters, which are completed by Corinthian capitals. He has only one (center) opening. The structure consists of an architrave with frieze. Original from these, however, only the architrave. The replaced in the 19th century parts of the superstructure stand out from today by a much lighter color.
The construction of the triumphal arch was probably during the reign of Emperor Augustus in the year 13 BC It is believed that the triumphal arch was dedicated to Augustus or his personal patron god and that he was used to characterize the limits of the dependent of Tarraco territories. The inscription was apparently used later. The text reads "Ex testamento L ( uci ) Licini L ( uci ) f ( Ilii ) Serg ( ia tribu ) surae Consa [ ... ] ". Because of this inscription, first one dating to the early 2nd century was associated with the politician Lucius Licinius Sura, who came from the province Tarraconensis contemplated. Studies on the obtained Originalkapitellen have but a date in the last quarter of the 1st century BC found what suits the road in the Augustan period.
With the Frankish conquest of the year 801 under William of Aquitaine, and his son and first Count of Barcelona, Berà, presented the County of Barcelona until the Roman triumphal arch. According to him, the arch got its name still in use, although the Franks then had to retreat to the Llobregat on the southern outskirts of present-day Barcelona, the boundaries of the county and these limits did not change throughout the 9th and 10th centuries.