You read that right, Ruined History! Or History in Ruins, my actual intent. I just love a good play on words.
Thursday, my history class went on its first excursion. We took a two-hour bus ride eighty miles north of Barcelona to see Iberian, Roman, and Greek ruins in the northwest of Spain, not far from the French border. Our day started with a guided tour of Ullastret. Ullastret was one of the largest cities in the Pre-Roman Iberian Peninsula between its founding in 600 BC and 200 BC, and served as the capital of the native peoples. At its founding, Ullastret was fortified by a large protective wall. The wall was extended around the time of the Second Punic War stands today. Within its borders, you can find silos for grain storage, cisterns, and homes. Ullastret was more or less continuously inhabited until its unexplained abandonment in the 17th century.
The site was discovered in 1931, but ongoing excavation did not begin until 1947. It is perhaps best known for the severed heads found in 2012. The theory is that these heads were hung for display as trophies of war, a ritual of Celtic origin. The ruins themselves are incredible, but also benefit from their gorgeous surroundings. In Ullastret's prime, it rested on a small hill on the side of a lake almost tow miles long. The lake was drained with a steam-engine between the 1850s and 1880s, leaving behind remarkably fertile fields for agriculture. (Funnily enough, when I asked the history professor why the lake had dried up, she said it was natural and that the coast changed frequently, but she didn't know about Ullastret's lake in particular.) Yellow rapeseed fields and mountains ring the ruins, either distracting from or adding to the value of the ruins themselves, depending on how history-centric your trip is. Of the artifacts in the small museum, I was most impressed by the hinge and the lead tablets that were used for writing. The lead tablets interested me becuase we had discussed them in class and they were much thinner and seemed more fragile than I'd imagined.
We continued down the road to Empúries, home to two ancient cities. Empúries and Neapolis were major trade cities for the Romans and Greeks, respectively. The Roman city felt much larger than the Greek. We saw an amphitheater, shops, the forum, public baths, and several large homes. Once again, the surroundings added beauty to the incredibly well preserved remains.
One of the most interesting things I learned was that the Romans were somewhat obsessed with penises. If you look the rock on the very right, fourth from the bottom of the wall, you'll see a phallus. The Romans believed the phallus to be a symbol of strength and protection. Thus, they carved it into their protective walls and would wear it as charms and amulets.
The statue pictured in the above gallery is of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. Asclepius was worshiped throughout Greece, but was struck down by Zeus when he upset the natural order of things by raising the dead for payment. Although Asclepius was a mortal and had offended Zeus, Zeus recognized the good he had done for the humans and made him a god postmortem. This is basically the best behavior you ever get out of Zeus.
Finally, (finally!) we had lunch at 14:00. Everyone was quite hungry and starting to get cranky by this time. I do hope they feed us sooner on the next excursion. The wait may have been worthwhile, though, as we were treated to what is likely to be the fanciest meal any of us will eat on this trip. We had all ordered in advance, so the wait was short enough that we didn't mind even in our hungry state. We were rewarded with a fresh salad that was crisp and sweet without dressing, balls of fried seafood, roasted vegetables to put on bread, and tomato-covered bread like I enjoyed at Elisabets. The appetizers were light and refreshing, enough to hold us over until entrées were delivered. The savory chicken fell off of the bones easily and practically melted in my mouth. I had some trouble cutting through the skin, but the meat was moist and tender.Once I had my baked chicken and french fries in front of me, I began to drink my wine. This wine made me realize that I had been kidding myself thinking my $2 would do. It was a velvety, dry, and fruity mix of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and tempranillo. I will probably have to seek out somewhere with many options to find a wine nearly as good to enjoy in my apartment. For dessert, we were given coffee and bowls of fruit. I was happily full by this point, causing me to forget to take pictures.
After lunch, we headed back to Barcelona. I managed to both sleep on the bus and immediately collapse into bed once I'd reached my room. The trip was tiring, but I look forward to next week's excursion to the south of Barcelona.
Until next time!