Logbook · 2 places

What to see and do in Cistella

What to see and do in Cistella (Alt Empordà, Girona): 2 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments

How far each place is from the centre of Cistella

Castle of Vilarig 2.3 km

Towns near Cistella

What to see in Lladó 3.5 km · 1 place
What to see in Vilanant 3.8 km · 1 place
What to see in Cabanelles 4.8 km · 1 place
What to see in Terrades 4.8 km · 2 places
What to see in Navata 5.1 km · 1 place
What to see in Avinyonet de Puigventós 5.7 km · 2 places
What to see in Llers 6.3 km · 3 places
What to see in Boadella d'Empordà 6.9 km · 1 place

Spain › Catalonia › Girona › Alt Empordà › Cistella

What to see and do in Cistella

Cistella
Village
Cistella, formerly called Sistella, is a municipality of the Alt Empordà made up of five villages: Cistella, Mare de Déu de Vida, Ribera de les Planes, Sant Baldiri and Vilarig. It retains the church of Santa Maria, whose 12th-century façade is one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in the Empordà, although the rest of the building was rebuilt in the 18th century, and the neighbouring church of Sant Martí, also Romanesque and rebuilt. At Vilarig stands the castle of the same name, a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection). One kilometre from the village, the sanctuary of the Mare de Déu de Vida, from the 17th century, serves as a viewpoint over the Empordà plain. It has 283 inhabitants (INE 2025).
Castle of Vilarig
Monument
The Castell de Vilarig, today converted into a farmhouse, is located in the hamlet of Vilarig, in the municipality of Cistella, at the foot of the road that leads there. Documented since the year 978 under the Latin name Villa Redi, the first clear mention of the castle dates from the 1359 fogatge (hearth tax census), with 28 families under the jurisdiction of a knight. The current building preserves remains of an early medieval fortification on top of which a castle-palace was raised during the 14th and 15th centuries, later altered on its main façade. Rectangular in plan around a central courtyard, it preserves remains of walls and of the rock-cut moats that protected it, as well as cobblestone masonry and early medieval opus spicatum brickwork. Next to it stands the church of Sant Martí de Vilarig.