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Abertis Autopistas has invested €1.5Mn in the project as part of its 1% cultural contribution. The project involves two areas: work in the quarry itself, with archaeological prospection the Clot area; and the creation of an interpretation space in the service station area and the development of the area as a museum to improve access and reveal the functions of the site and its historic and environmental wealth. The quarry is open to the public from Wednesday to Saturday, from 9am to 2pm.

The archaeological work was carried out by the Institut Català d’Arqueologia Clàssica (ICAC), enabling the development of the quarry to be studied and the original uses of the site to be understood.
Work was also carried out in the area discovered following a fire in July 2010, which burned some of the land around Mèdol, opened up previously unknown areas and revealed clear evidence of quarrying. Having been explored and cleaned up, this zone has now been included in the visit. 

A new museum area has been built to facilitate access to the site. This provides educational explanations on the history of the quarry, describing its archaeological significance. As a result, there is now an Interpretation Centre in the service station area of the AP-7 motorway from which visitors can access the site. The Interpretation Centre describes every aspect of how the Roman quarry was used: from how the stone was extracted to its use in the outstanding monuments of Roman Tarraco, today's Tarragon. It also examines the tools used, mining and transport techniques, relationships with other Roman quarries and so on.
Further demonstrating its commitment to education and culture, the Abertis Foundation plans to give schools access to the site and to provide educational and promotional materials for the project.

The Mèdol quarry

The Roman quarry at Mèdol covers 11 hectares, and is one of the 13  Roman architectural sites in Tarragona, which have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The stone quarried at Mèdol was used in some of the most important buildings in Tarraco, the capital of Hispania Citerior during the Roman Republic and Empire.

It was used in some of the monuments we can still see today, such as the walls (dating from the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC), the amphitheatre (2nd century AD) and the circus and provincial forum (1st century AD). And Mèdol stone was also used in the city's decoration, in sculptures, altars and for various inscriptions. The stone was transported to the city along the Via Augusta –which in part coincides with the route of the AP-7 motorway– or by sea.

Through its commitment to the community and culture, Abertis has preserved the quarry and opened it to the public through an agreement with the Regional Government of Catalonia's Department of Culture and the Tarragona city council. The quarry is included on one of the cultural itineraries of the Tarragona History Museum.
You can visit the quarry from the Mèdol service station on the AP-7 motorway southbound, and from the N-340 road.

Environmental value

Clot del Mèdol is a unique site from a social and environmental perspective, due to its humidity and the shade in the depth of the excavations. The botanical interest of Clot results mainly from the size of some of its woody shrubs, such as the mastic and wild olive trees. A number of plant species are protected by special regulations, as native European varieties and Mediterranean species which have developed uniquely. The site is rich in wildlife, such as the eagle owl, with a greater wealth of bird life and rodents within the quarry than outside of it. The quarry is also of great ecological interest, with the landscape still displaying traces of fossils from different periods and marine crustaceans in some sections.

The Abertis Foundation and the environment

The Abertis Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation committed to improving the quality of life of the public and the social development of the regions and countries in which the Abertis Group operates. The headquarters of the Abertis Foundation, Castellet Castle, were recently designated a centre for the UNESCO Biosphere Reserves of the Mediterranean, with the aim of promoting and developing environmental research, protection and conservation activities.

With this in mind, the Foundation pursues cultural, social, environmental, scientific and educational goals in the public interest, encouraging scientific research, technological development and innovation and the transfer of technological innovation to our productive fabric as a driver of business competitiveness.

Abertis' environmental policies are centred on the progressive establishment of a system of environmental management in the Group's areas of activity, in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14001, with the objective of minimising the environmental impact of the Group's activities. Abertis is thus working to reduce the carbon footprint of its economic activity (Carbon Disclosure Project), optimise its waste management and conserve the biodiversity of the natural environments where infrastructure managed by the Group is located.