Empuries. Ruins of Empuries. Greece, Rome on the Costa Brava

Empuries, Costa Brava, Spain

This area has been a center of trade since the 7th Century BCE.  Etruscans, Phoenicians, Greeks. The name Empuries comes from the Greek Emporion, that means, of course, Greek.  Then came the Romans.  By the end of 300ACE, however, the city had been eclipsed by Barcelona, Tarragona and Girona.

Empuries, Spain. Greeks and Romans by the sea.

Empuries, Costa Brava, Spain. Ancient town layout; archeology site.

Greek and Roman ruins here are still "legible" as a full town, complete with water and water purification systems.

Ruines d'Empuries, Costa Brava. Ancient heritage.

Empuries, Roman wall, Spain

Patterns of mosaics and tiling are complex.  Roman mosaics were made in panels, with drawings found underneath to direct the placement.  They were not made on the house floor itself, but in a workshop, section by section.  See Archeology Magazine, Nov-Dec 2012 at p.40, article: Mosaic Masters.

Empuries, Spain. Roman mosaics and tiling

Then Dan turned around.

Touch the exhibits in the museum.  You are supposed to.  Pass your hand over, and the mosaic picture appears, then fades back into the past.

Dan Widing high-fives at the Empuries interactive museum, Costa Brava, Spain

Then, stuck.

Empuries, Dan Widing with Good Samaritan who unlocked the steering wheel.