Village
Castelló d'Empúries is a municipality of the Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, with 12,201 inhabitants (INE 2025), the former capital of the county of Empúries since around 1064, when the counts moved their residence here from San Martín de Ampurias. That same year the church of Santa Maria was consecrated for the first time, in Romanesque style; it would in time become today's Gothic basilica known as the cathedral of the Empordà. The municipality has two centres, the medieval quarter of Castelló, which retains its layout, arcaded squares and palaces, and the residential marina of Empuriabrava; the town hall is based in the former Palace of the Counts. In 1492 the Jewish population, which had come to number around 300 people and two synagogues, was expelled by decree of the Catholic Monarchs.
Village
Empuriabrava is a population centre of Castelló d'Empúries, on the Gulf of Roses, surrounded by the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà nature park. It is the largest navigable residential marina in Europe, with more than 24 km of canals reaching the door of every house, and the Catalan capital of skydiving. Before it was built, its land was Empordà marshland, occupied by large farmhouses growing rice. The first development projects arose in 1964, and work on the canals and houses, inspired by classical Venice, began in 1967; sales were highly successful, especially in Germany. The environmentalist mobilisation prompted by its growth spurred the creation, in 1983, of the nature park that surrounds it today. It has around 8,000 inhabitants.
Monument
The Basilica of Santa Maria, known as the “Cathedral of the Empordà”, stands in the Puig Salnes quarter of the old town of Castelló d'Empúries, capital of the county after the destruction of Ampurias, when the counts moved their residence there. It is considered the most important religious monument in the Gerona region after Gerona Cathedral. The current Gothic building, directed by the architect Ramon de Xartres, began construction in 1261 on an earlier Romanesque church consecrated in 1064, of which vestiges still remain, such as the first storeys of the bell tower. The structure was completed in the early 15th century, when the façade was raised with its marble portal and the alabaster altarpiece of the high altar was carved. It has a hall-church plan, with three naves, and in the 17th and 18th centuries two large side chapels were added.
Monument
The Ecomuseu-Farinera of Castelló d'Empúries occupies a former flour factory installed in a mill documented since 1331, today included in the Inventory of Architectural Heritage of Catalonia. Across its three floors it preserves milling-process machinery, dating from the late 19th century to the first half of the 20th, combined with structures of melis, flandes and Galician pine wood. The museum, which is part of the Catalonia-Gerona Network of Local Museums, shows the traditional work linked to wheat growing in the Empordà.
Monument
The last surviving gate of the eight gates of the old medieval wall of Castelló d'Empúries, from the 13th-14th centuries, although the town had already been fortified since the 10th century, with no remains surviving from that earlier period. The Portal de la Gallarda is a rectangular tower with a round-arched, voussoired gateway opening at its base and a large square window above. Beside this gate, stretches of stone wall survive, integrated into later buildings. The complex has been protected since 1988 as a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection).
Nature
The second most important wetland in Catalonia, with ponds, lagoons and fields where more than 300 bird species winter, nest or stop over. The park covers an area of approximately 4,722.7 hectares, of which about 824 are integral nature reserve, and is spread across several municipalities of the Alt Empordà, headed by Castelló d'Empúries, which holds 57.4% of the protected area. It was declared a natural site in 1983 and reclassified as a natural park in 1985; part of the river Fluvià, including the island of Caramany, is a partial reserve for the otter. More than 80% of the land is privately owned, and between its two sectors lies Empuriabrava, Europe's largest residential marina, with 30 km of navigable canals.
Nature
A river rising in the Pyrenean foothills and flowing into the Gulf of Roses after passing through Castelló d'Empúries, feeding the wetlands and lagoons of the Empordà.
Nature
The river Muga flows into the Gulf of Roses, within the municipality of Castelló d'Empúries, between Empuriabrava and the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà protected natural area. With an average flow of 3.34 m³/s at its mouth, its waters are home to grey mullet and sea bass alongside barbel, trout, river crayfish, eels, grass snakes, salamanders, toads and frogs. Silting has caused the old estuary and the medieval port known as the grau de la Muga to disappear.
Nature
The Cortalet lagoon is a large artificial pond built on former meadows beside the information centre of the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà natural park, in Castelló d'Empúries, mainly to make bird-watching easier: its interest is chiefly ornithological. The most abundant plant community is the reed bed, though its margins also feature habitats of Community interest such as Mediterranean halophilous grasslands and rush beds or glasswort communities. The water surface is maintained through forced flooding, fed in part by treated water from Empuriabrava after passing through the Estany Europa. Fitted with trails, panels and hides, it is the part of the park that draws the most visitors.
Nature
One of the most emblematic freshwater ponds of the former Castelló lagoon, surrounded by hygrophilous vegetation and with a bird-watching platform.
Nature
The Illa de Caramany is a river island located two kilometres from the mouth of the Fluvià, within the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà Natural Park, in Castelló d'Empúries. It is home to one of the most extensive, best-structured and best-preserved riverside forests in the park, with native species such as willows, poplars, ash trees, elms and tamarisks. The island is also an important site for the wintering and nesting of herons and other birds. It holds the dual status of integral nature reserve and partial nature reserve, and is part of the Natura 2000 Network, with the code ES0000019.
Nature
Brackish coastal lagoons behind the beaches between the mouths of the Muga and Fluvià rivers, with salt-tolerant plants such as glasswort.
Nature
La Rubina beach, also known as Wild Beach, is a natural beach in the municipality of Castelló d'Empúries situated within the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà Nature Park, between the Empuriabrava inlet and the Santa Margarida residential marina. It is 1,704 metres long and 59 metres wide, made up of medium and fine sand with a very steep slope into the water; at the end closest to Santa Margarida, dogs and kitesurfing are permitted. The Catalan Water Agency checks the quality of its waters weekly during the bathing season, with excellent results. Behind the beach stretches a dune belt with pools typical of a wetland, protected by a fence that shelters the vegetation and the wildlife that nests there, such as the Kentish plover.
Activity
A Tuesday market in the former capital of the County of Empúries, the heir to market rights granted to the town in the 14th century.
Activity
A seasonal night market beside the canals of Empuriabrava, with crafts and a family atmosphere on summer evenings.
Activity
Empuriabrava is a development in Castelló d'Empúries, on the Gulf of Roses, built as a residential marina around an extensive network of navigable canals, in imitation of Port Grimaud (France) and the developments of Florida, themselves inspired by Venice. With about 24 km of inland canals, 14,000 homes and 5,000 private moorings, it is considered the largest residential marina in the world. It was promoted in 1964 by the company Eurobrava S.A., founded by the Marquis of Sant Mori; it was approved in 1967 despite opposition from small agricultural landowners, on land that had formed part of the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà. It has a 1.5 km beach and an airfield, home to Skydive Empuriabrava; in summer it comes to house more than 60,000 people, compared with around 7,000 permanent residents.
Activity
A kayak route through the navigable canals of Empuriabrava and the lower Muga river, with the option of reaching the Aiguamolls beach.
Activity
In the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà natural park (Castelló d'Empúries, Alt Empordà), covering 4,722.7 hectares, 329 bird species have been recorded, of which 82 nest there regularly. Guided outings with telescopes set out from the Cortalet information centre to observe both migratory species, with the largest passage during the second half of April and the first days of May, and wintering species from northern and central Europe, among which ducks stand out. Several of the park's viewpoints are former rice-storage silos converted for birdwatching.
Activity
Annual days dedicated to birdwatching in the natural park, with guided walks and family activities.
Activity
Guided kayak trip through the lagoons and canals of the natural park, a peaceful way to observe its aquatic wildlife. Nesting birds include the mallard, the purple heron and the marsh harrier, joined by migratory species such as flamingos, spoonbills and waders, and up to 15,000 wintering waterbirds in January; its waters are also home to carp, grey mullet and the fartet, an endemic fish.
Activity
The giants of Castelló d'Empúries, commissioned in 1982 by the Town Council from the artist Xavier Jansana Font, with costumes sewn by a group of local women, were christened on 10 August, the feast of Sant Llorenç, during that year's Festa Major, and sponsored by the giants of Girona. In 1985 their promoters formally set up the Colla Gegantera de Castelló d'Empúries, with Anicet Juncà Vives as its first cap de colla, and since then the giants have accompanied, together with the correfoc and the bigheads, the August festivities held around the basilica of Santa Maria, the former seat of the county of Empúries.
Activity
Terra de Trobadors is the medieval market that Castelló d'Empúries holds in mid-September, recalling life in the Middle Ages. The old town then fills with more than seventy craft stalls, where payment can only be made in period currency.
Activity
Empuriabrava aerodrome is one of the most renowned skydiving centres in Europe, offering tandem jumps and free-fall courses all year round. Located two kilometres east of Castelló d'Empúries, it is a private aerodrome commercially operated as Skydive Empuriabrava since 1985, which in 2012 passed into the hands of a sovereign wealth fund from Dubai. It records around 6,000 take-offs a year and close to 130,000 jumps, as well as photography and aerial advertising flights, tourist flights, and its role as a private pilot school. It has an asphalt runway measuring 800 by 20 metres and an aircraft parking apron of 7,500 square metres.
Activity
A vertical wind tunnel next to Empuriabrava aerodrome that simulates the sensation of free fall, suitable for all ages with no need to jump from a plane.
Historical milestone
The provincial planning commission approved in 1967 the partial plan that gave rise to the residential marina of Empuriabrava, a grid of more than thirty kilometers of navigable canals raised over the marshes at the mouth of the Muga.
Food and drink
Fritters of dough fermented with egg and brandy, flavored with anise and lemon and rolled in sugar, fried throughout the comarca during Lent; their flattened shape and their dense crumb distinguish them from other fritters.