Some quarries are ugly scars, and this one is a lesson in what the Romans meant by planning. The Médol quarry, a few kilometres east of Tarragona near Altafulla and Torredembarra, supplied the golden sandstone that built much of Roman Tarraco, the capital of a huge province. Blocks were cut here, hauled to the coast and shipped or carted along the Via Augusta to build temples, walls and the amphitheatre. The quarry is part of the archaeological ensemble of Tarraco inscribed by UNESCO in 2000.
What you see today is a series of deep, square-cut chambers in the rock, now partly overgrown with pine and rosemary. Standing in the middle is a tall pillar of stone left behind, known as the Agulla del Médol, the Needle, which may have been left as a marker of the original ground level or simply because it was not worth cutting. The cut faces still carry the marks of the tools, and in places you can see where blocks were half-detached and abandoned. It is a quiet, slightly eerie place on a still afternoon.
Altafulla, two and a half kilometres away, is a pleasure of its own. Its walled medieval core, the Vila Closa, is crowned by a castle and filled with narrow lanes, and just beyond lies a long, gentle beach. Torredembarra, a larger town, has a harbour and a seaside promenade, and Tarragona itself is a short ride away with its amphitheatre above the sea.
This stretch of the Costa Daurada is not a great riding area in the mountain sense. Roads run along the coast and through low hills of vines and pines, mostly busy and straight. The pleasure is the history and the sea air. Early morning or late afternoon in spring and autumn are the best times, when the traffic thins and the light turns golden, much like the stone.
Fuel and food are no problem. Torredembarra has pumps, supermarkets and many restaurants, and a plate of grilled seafood or an arròs is easy to find. Bring a hat in summer, because the quarry floor traps heat.