In Ancient times there was a city called Phocaea, in the geographical area that today is Turkey. 2600 years ago greek colonists from Phocaea traveled west and reached this coast of north-east Spain to found a new settlement. It became "Emporion", a thriving center for commerce and merchants. Later, Emporion was occupied by the romans and to the original greek settlement, just few meters from the beach, a new Roman portion of the city was added, slightly more inland. The city prospered for centuries, but then fell in decline in the early medieval age, when its very exposed position made it too vulnerable to marauders. Meanwhile other Roman cities in the area were gaining more power, like Barcino (Barcelona) and Tarraco (Tarragona). Here is how Empúries looks today, in ruins. The statue is a copy of the original (kept inside the museum) but it's placed in the location where the original standed. It probably depicts Asclepius, greek god of healing and medicine.
