Museo del Puerto Fluvial de Caesaraugusta

In Roman times, the River Ebro was navigable from Dertosa (Tortosa), where there was a combined sea-river port, up to Vareia (today Logroño), and all along its banks there was busy trade which gave rise to the appearance of river ports in several cities. Of these ports, Caesaravgvsta was the main redistribution centre of the valley for merchandise from inland (wheat, timber, iron, hides, flax,¿) as well as from the coast ( wine, salted meat and fish, pottery, marble, jewellery, etc.)

Situated on the north-east corner of the forum, the port installations ran along the right bank of the river, exploiting the calmness of the water in this area. These facilities were made up of a large building, probably devoted to storage among other funcions, which opened on the river via a beautiful arched façade. These arches gave access to a hall and a flight of steps connecting the port to the forum.

The port was constructed around the beginnig of the Christian era (the masonry marks of some of the founder legions the 4th Macedonian, the 6th Victrix and the 10th Gemina can be seen on some of the blocks), although at the end of the 1st century or  in the first half of the 2nd century AD, the installations were completed with the construction of a market (macellvm) to the east  of the main building. The installations began to fall into disuse around the middle of the 6th century AD, with the wailing up the arches looking onto the river, perhaps as a result of the Frankish stege of 541. Port activity continued during later centuries, with Zaragoza maintaining its role as a trade redistribution center in the middle Ebro valley.