Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Tortosa

TORTOSA, a fortified city of Spain, in the province of Tarragona, and 40 miles by rail to the south-west of that town, is picturesquely situated on the left bank of the Ebro (here crossed by a bridge of boats), 22 miles above its mouth. It is for the most part an old walled town, with narrow, crooked, and ill-paved streets; the houses are lofty, and massively built of granite. The slope on which it stands is crowned with an old ruined castle, com manding a splendid view. The cathedral is a conspicuous building near the river; it occupies the site of a mosque built in 914 by Abd al-Rahman; the present structure, which dates from 1347, has its Gothic character disguised by a classical façade with Ionic pillars and much tasteless modernization. The stalls in the choir, carved by Cristobal de Salamanca in 1588-93, and the sculpture of the pulpits, as well as the ironwork of the choir-railing and some of the precious marbles with which the chapels are adorned, deserve notice. None of the other public buildings, which include an episcopal palace, a town-hall, and numerous churches, require special mention. The manufactures of Tortosa include paper, hats, leather, porcelain, majolica, soap, and spirits. There is an important fishery in the river, and an active trade is carried on through the harbour, which is accessible to vessels of 100 tons burden, corn, wine, oil, wool, silk, fruits, and liquorice (a specialty of the district) being among the leading articles of export. Near Tortosa are rich quarries of marble and alabaster, and the whole surrounding country is very fertile and beautiful. The population within the municipal boundaries in 1878 was 24,057.

Tortosa, the Dcrtosa of Strabo and the Colonia Julia Augusta Dertosa of numerous coins, was a city of the Ilercaones in Hispania Tarraconensis. Under the Moors it became a place of great importance as the key of the Ebro valley. It was taken by Louis the Pious in 811 (after an unsuccessful siege two years before), but was soon recaptured. Having become a haunt of .pirates, and exceedingly injurious to Italian commerce, it was made the object of a crusade proclaimed by Pope Eugenius III. in 1148, and was accordingly captured by Raymond Berengar, assisted by Templars, Pisans, and Genoese. Tortosa fell into the hands of the duke of Orleans in 1708, and was again surrendered in the War of Independence in 1811 to the French under Suchet, who held it till 1814.