Antiquities Exhibits

Empúries was an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Spain.  Meaning "trading place", the city was founded in 575 BCE by Greek colonists from Phocaea on a small island at the mouth of the river Fluvià. About 550 BCE the inhabitants moved to the mainland.  After the conquest of Phocaea by the Persian king Cyrus II in 530 BCE, the city's population increased considerably through the influx of refugees. Situated as it was on the coastal commercial route between Massalia (Marseille) and Tartessos in the far south of Hispania, the city developed into a large economic and commercial centre as well as being the largest Greek colony in the Iberian Peninsula.  During the Punic Wars, Empúries allied itself with Rome, and Publius Cornelius Scipio initiated the conquest of Hispania from this city in 218 BCE. After the conquest of Hispania by the Romans, Empúries remained an independent city-state until it sided with Pompey during the civil war between Pompey and Jul...

Antiquities from the excavations at Empúries onsite and in the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain. Empúries was founded in 575 BCE by Greek colonists from Phocaea. After the invasion of Gaul from Iberia by Hannibal the Carthaginian general in 218 BCE, the city was occupied by the Romans (Latin: Emporiæ). After the conquest of Hispania by the Romans, Empúries remained an independent city-state. However, in t he civil war between Pompey and Julius Caesar, it opted for Pompey, and after his defeat it was stripped of its autonomy. A colonia of Roman veterans, named Emporiae, was established near Indika to control the region and a Roman mint operated there. A number of Roman mosaics have been preserved and sculptures of Asclepius, Demeter, Dionysos and possibly the Empress Livia have been recovered, too, as well as red-figured ceramics, oil lamps, articulated dolls, and coin hoards. Note: I had the wonderful opportunity to explore Empúries in 2013 taking the photogr...