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| Barcelona
One and a half
Hour's drive south of L'Escala. Barcelona has everything;
without doubt one of the best loved cities in the world.
From Gaudi's Sagrada Familia to the Nou Camp, and too many
other attractions in between, to mention; this city is simply
unmissable. |
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Girona
A beautiful city about half an hour's drive from L'Escala
with medieval Jewish quarters, Arabian baths, cathedral, great
shopping centre. Nestled in the northeast corner of
Spain, Girona offers year-round beauty, not to mention miles
and miles of some of the world's finest cycling country. Without a doubt Girona is one of Spain's most beautiful cities,
with access to virtually everything Europe is known for:
the
finest culinary experiences, the special quaintness unique
to the Old World, friendly and welcoming locals that celebrate
many festivals throughout the year. |
| Girona
features numerous beautifully preserved medieval and modern
spaces. Squares, steep alleyways and buildings that make up
places with an unsurpassed atmosphere and beauty, where it
seems that time has stood still for centuries.
The
city has been rated as having the best quality of life in
Spain.
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Dali Museum
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Figueres
Is
situated at the north-eastern end of Catalonia. It lies 15
miles north of L'Escala and was Salvador Dali's Home town.
With 34,200 inhabitants, it is the largest of the cities bordering
on France and is at the hub of a major communications network
which makes it a gateway and stopping place for travellers
and tourists entering and leaving Spain.
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Located at the centre of an extensive river basin, Figueres
is the capital of Alt Empordà county and acts as the economic-commercial,
social and cultural centre of the county. The tourist vocation
of the county makes Figueres the nerve-centre of the Costa Brava,
one of Catalonia's most important tourist zones.
In Figueres you can find the Dali Museum, full of surrealist
master pieces. Dali himself is buried inside his Museum. |
Roses |
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| Is a pleasant town at
the top of the bay (of Roses) L'Escala being at the bottom.
It has several historic sites and is also popular with
families with its large sweeping beach and a water park.
The Pyrenees begin at the rear of the town. |
| Empuriabrava
Empuriabrava is
the biggest marina in Europe it is an unusual, yet pretty,
holiday town, with more than 23 kilometres of canals
and an airport, situated between L'Escala and Roses.
It is equipped with all the facilities required for
boating and has 5000 mooring sites of which 700 are
used for vessels up to 26 metres long. There is a large
sandy beach that stretches out of the town at either
end. |
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The airport is regularly used for light aircraft and has
a popular skydive centre. There are plenty of boat
hire facilities around the town. |
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L'Estartit
and The Medes Isles
Lies round the cove
approximately 10 Miles to the south of L'Escala.
It is a town that has an excellent beach and is popular with
the package tourist. The town is very quiet
during the winter.
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Medes Isles lie just off the coast of L'Estartit and are
world renowned as having a unique marine eco system in
the surrounding waters. The 7 small islands attract people
with interests in fauna, but it is the waters
below that has divers captivated for centuries |
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Just north, of
L'Escala behind the Bay of Roses is one of Catalonia's
more accessible nature reserves, the Parc Natural dels
Aiguamolls de l´Emporda (open daily; free). An important
wetland reserve created by the Catalan government
in 1983 to save what remained of
the Emporda marshland, which once covered the entire
plain here, but has gradually disappeared over the centuries
as a result
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of agricultural developments and cattle-raising.
The great interest
of marshlands lies in the fact that they are highly productive,
biologically speaking and are the home of many species
of animals and plants specially adapted to this environment.
The Aiguamolls are
a regular stopping place for many species of migrating
birds.
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Ruins of Empúries
The historic ruins of Empuries are less than a mile from
L'Escala. It is here that the Greeks arrived hoping to expand
their trading activities around 500BC
The Phoenicians
founded a colony on Sant Martí d'Empúries (then an island)
in 575BCE, and this became the Greek city of Emporion (trading
station).
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The original Greek city
occupies the site closest to the shore. For three centuries,
the Greeks conducted a vigorous trade from Emporion throughout
the Mediterranean. In the early third century BC, their settlement
was taken by Scipio, and the Romans established an important
settlement, ten times the size of its Greek predecessor, with
an amphitheatre, fine villas with stunning black and white mosaics.
The Romans were replaced by the
Visigoths, who built several basilicas, and Emporion only disappears
from the records in the ninth century when, it is assumed, it
was wrecked by either Saracen or Norman pirates. Excavation
of the Greek and Roman cities has been proceeding since 1908.
It has proved extremely difficult because of the superimposition
of buildings constructed over some 2000 years. Among the ruins
nearest the entrance are the temples of Asclepius, god of medicine,
and of Zeus Serapis; a watch tower; water cisterns with a reconstructed
filter; on the other end of 'main street' you'll find the agora
or main square; and in the street leading down to the sea, the
stoa, a covered market with the remains of shops and an arcade
where traders bought and sold. Recent sub aquatic excavations
(Oct. 1997) have confirmed the existence of the remains of a
large Roman port situated some 200m offshore, consisting of
dikes, shipyards, and warehouses, dating from the second and
first centuries BC.
Because it was at Empúries
that the Greeks first set foot in Spain, it is here that the
Olympic flame was brought from Athens to inaugurate the 1992
games in Barcelona. A small museum has been established, although
many of the original finds have been transferred to Barcelona's
Archaeological Museum, and replaced with reproductions. It is
worth investing in the English-language guidebook to steer your
way around the site, especially the Greek area which, without
additional information, is otherwise rather dull.
You can visit
the remains of these settlements as well as the museum that
shows some of the artefacts from that time. Excavations are
still undergoing on these sites.
Surrounding Local towns
There are several local towns
that cannot go unmentioned to the visitor to the Alt Emporda.
All the places listed below have there own unique attraction
and are well worth a visit numbers 1. and 2. are a short drive from
L'Escala (less than 15 Mins.) whereas 3. 4. and 5. require
more time to meander through the winding roads at the edge of the Pyrenees
behind Roses.
1. Torroella De Montgri
2. St. Pere Pescador
3. El Port De La Selva
4. Cadaques
5. Llanca
There are many small villages,
each with their own individual charm, that are also worth
exploring around L'Escala and the wider Alt Emporda.
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