Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Cantallops

What to see and do in Cantallops (Alt Empordà, Girona): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 2 Nature · 2 Activities

How far each place is from the centre of Cantallops

Ponds of l'Albera 2.7 km
Castle of Requesens 2.9 km

Towns near Cantallops

What to see in la Jonquera 4.2 km · 16 places
What to see in Capmany 5.4 km · 4 places
What to see in Espolla 7.1 km · 11 places
What to see in Agullana 7.4 km · 4 places
What to see in Sant Climent Sescebes 7.5 km · 2 places
What to see in Masarac i Vilarnadal 8.9 km · 2 places
What to see in Mollet de Peralada 9.4 km · 1 place
What to see in Rabós 9.8 km · 3 places

Spain › Catalonia › Girona › Alt Empordà › Cantallops

What to see and do in Cantallops

Cantallops
Village
Cantallops is a municipality of the Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, situated on the southern slope of the sierra de l'Albera, with an extensive forested area of cork oaks, pines, holm oaks and oaks. From the village runs the road leading to the hamlet of Requesens, seat of one of the most notable medieval complexes of the Empordà. The earliest mentions date from the year 844, when its church is cited in a charter in favour of the monastery of Sant Quirze de Colera, whose monks had settled the territory. Cork gave rise to small family cork-stopper industries, which disappeared in the 1940s. At the Mas Bell-lloc, on their way into exile, Antoni Rovira i Virgili and other members of the Parliament of Catalonia spent the night of 27 January 1939. It has 366 inhabitants.
Castle of Requesens
Monument
The castle of Requesens rises in the hamlet of the same name, at the head of the Anyet river, on the slope of the puig Neulós, within the Paratge Natural d'Interès Nacional de l'Albera, created in 1986. It is reached along a mountain track of about six kilometres from Cantallops. The surroundings, with dense forests of cork oaks, holm oaks and beeches, were one of the last refuges of the bear and the wolf in the Empordà. The mountain range has been a border since Roman times, the boundary between Gaul and Hispania, a status fixed by the Treaty of the Pyrenees of 1659, which explains the ancient fortification of the site. The village of Requesens has been documented since the year 859. Rebuilt in the 19th century by the counts of Peralada, it is today a fairy-tale castle with spectacular views over the mountains.
Requesens Woods
Nature
Extensive oak, chestnut and holm-oak woods surrounding Requesens castle, in the Albera range.
Ponds of l'Albera
Nature
A group of Mediterranean temporary pools and wet meadows at the foot of the southern slope of the sierra de l'Albera, a habitat for amphibians and rare plants, protected within the Basses de l'Albera Natura 2000 site, which includes bodies of water such as the estany de les Moles, the estanys de Gutina, the estany d'en Parú and the estanys de la Jonquera. The estany de les Moles, in the municipality of Cantallops, is a temporary flood lagoon of less than one hectare with plant communities very rare in Catalonia — therophytic quillwort rush communities and montane acidophilous rush communities — included in the European priority habitat of Mediterranean temporary ponds and puddles. It suffers fairly intensive grazing pressure, which causes eutrophication and degradation.
Ascent to Requesens Castle from Cantallops
Activity
Mountain route to Requesens castle, already documented in the year 859 and situated on a hill 512 metres high, at the foot of the Puig Neulós, within the Albera massif. Of medieval origin, built by the counts of Roussillon as a feudal stronghold, it was completely rebuilt between 1893 and 1899 by its owners, under the direction of the master builder Alexandre Comalat, as the summer residence of Count Tomàs de Rocabertí, in a historicist neo-medieval style. It preserves three walled enclosures with round and square towers, a chapel and stables.
Ascent of Puig Neulós from Requesens
Activity
Climb to the summit of the Albera massif (1,257 m), the highest point of the range, straddling Spain and France, with views stretching from the Canigó to the Gulf of Roses over the plains of Roussillon and the Alt Empordà. The route starts from Requesens and can also be taken from Cantallops, in better condition than the variant via la Jonquera. At the summit stands the Torre d'en Manel, a stone monument built in the late 19th century and rebuilt after damage caused by the installation of repeater masts. The surroundings, with cork oak woods, meadows battered by the tramontana and the free-roaming Albera cow, form part of the protected natural area of the Albera.