CONGRESS SITES
ALCAŅIZ
In the 16.th century there was a literary bloom in Alcaņiz. This town was the birthplace of Latin writers who earned international praise, such as Iohannes Sobrarias, Petrus Royzius, Iohannes Laurentius Palmyrenus and Bernardinus Gomez Miedes. Since 1990 it has been the site of four international conferences about Humanism and Classical Tradition. Alcaņiz conserves its beautiful renaissance buildings, such as the City Hall and the Casa Ardid, where the IEH is located and where the Congress will take place, and a medieval castle, which has since become a hotel. More information about the city can be obtained at:
Oficina de Turismo
E - 44600 Alcaņiz
Phone and Fax: + 34 978 831213
E-mail address: turismo@alcaniz.es
www.alcaniz.es and www.cerespain.com
AMPOSTA
Amposta is situated at the delta of the river Ebro, where Romans defeated Carthaginians in a naval battle the year 217 B.C. (LIV. XXII,19), and which is a beautiful natural environment that is visible from one of the buildings where the Congress will take place. The "Castellania" of Amposta was an important medieval castle built on the top of some Iberian and Andalusi settlements, which belonged to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem in the Catalan-Aragonese Crown. It also conserves in its surroundings the ruins of the Roman village and the Medieval tower of the Carrova. In the year 2006 it will be the cultural capital of Catalonia. More information about Amposta can be obtained at:
Oficina de Turismo
E - 43870 Amposta
Phone: + 34 977 703453
Fax: + 34 977 702324
E-mail address: info@turismeamposta.org
www.turismeamposta.org and www.amposta.es.
ROMAN TARRAGONA AND PROVINCIA TARRACONENSIS
The Roman Tarraco was the capital of Hispania Citerior and soon after of the Tarraconensis, which comprehended the biggest part of Hispania, including the modern territories of Aragon, Catalonia, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and other regions. This province, namely among the Celtiberians of the conventus Caesaraugustanus, was the birthplace of the poet Marcus Valerius Martialis (Bilbilis, Calatayud), 160 kilometers west of Alcaņiz, and of the rhetorician Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (Calagurris, Calahorra), near the navigable waters of the river Ebro, which connects to the Mediterranean Sea in Amposta 350 kms. downriver (PLIN. III,21). 
The colony of Tarraco, where the emperor Augustus lived around 26 B.C., had great cultural activity, and it was the richest seaboard city on this coast (MEL. II,90). In Tarragona can still be seen the Roman walls, the forum, the circus, the theater, the amphitheater, the basilica and other Roman archeological sites (www.livius.org).
