Funeral Tower of Vilablareix

Coordinates: 41.9544200000, 2.7740100000 (map)

If you'd like to see some ancient Roman ruins or archaeological remains on the territory of modern-day Catalonia, you don't necessarily need to travel to Barcelona or Tarragona to satisfy your fix — sometimes you may be casually riding a bike through a field and find a structure that was built in the 2nd-3rd century A.D. — literally in the middle of nowhere. A great example of the above is a funerary tower Torratxa de Vilablareix, found close to the parish church of the Vilabrareix village 5 km away from Girona.

The tower is made of two storeys of rectangular shape, approximately 3 by 4 meters each; the lower one had been used as the burial chamber. The tower is over 7 meters tall. Despite being looted over the centuries by treasure hunters and passersby, the structure has survived intact and has served as a shelter for many shepherds and travellers for longer than we will ever know.

The first studies of the tower date back to 1874. In 2002, it's been established that the grounds around it are covering a Roman necropolis, so it is not outside of the realm of possibility to soon have the access to the tower restricted and the archaeological digging to begin. For now, the Vilablareix tower is absolutely free to visit.