Village
Torroella de Montgrí is a town and municipality in the Baix Empordà, in the province of Girona, at the foot of the Montgrí massif, a coastal karst formation with cliffs almost 100 metres high which local lore likens to the silhouette of a reclining abbot and which is crowned by the castle of Montgrí. The massif and the Medes Islands -one of the most important marine reserves in the Mediterranean- are protected within the Montgrí, Illes Medes i Baix Ter Natural Park. The southern, flat part of the municipality is occupied by the final stretch of the Ter river, with dunes being restored, such as the Pletera. Besides Torroella itself, at the foot of the Montgrí, it includes Estartit, facing the Medes, a decentralised municipal entity since 2015. Its old town, of Gothic origin, hosts the prestigious Festival de Torroella every summer.
Village
L'Estartit is a decentralised municipal entity of Torroella de Montgrí, in the Baix Empordà, with 3,397 inhabitants (2023) and an economy that depends 60% on tourism. It lies a little over a kilometre from the Medes Islands, which has made diving one of its main sources of income, and it has a large fine-sand beach, with the Montgrí massif behind it. It emerged as a village in the 18th century, once the piracy that had held back its settlement subsided: in 1716 there is record of five fishermen settled there, and by the middle of the century there were already twenty houses. Until the mid-20th century, its port allowed the export of maize, rice, wine and spirits. A coastal town and fishing and tourist port, it remains the main gateway to the Illes Medes.
Monument
A Gothic military fortification of the 13th and 14th centuries, built between 1294 and 1304 by order of James II at the top of the Montgrí massif, a limestone mountain 315 metres high, six kilometres from the sea, whose summit offers views of the whole of the Empordà, as far as the Canigou. The works, begun by Bernardo de Llabiá, governor of Torroella, as a means of control in the confrontation between the king and the count of Ampurias Ponce V, were halted in 1301 with the castle unfinished, as the county of Barcelona consolidated its power over that of Ampurias; that struggle, which ruined the region and diverted the Ter, gave rise to the dunes of Torroella. Of eastern influence, following the Crusades, it has a square plan 31 metres across with four towers, walls 13 metres high with battlements, a moat and a cistern. It was never finished, but it is a symbol of the Baix Ter.
Monument
The walled enclosure of Torroella de Montgrí (Baix Empordà), declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), originally kept six gates and several towers, of which today only remains survive in the north and north-west part of the old centre, although its perimeter can still be traced through the layout of the streets. The best-preserved elements are the Santa Caterina gateway, to the north, and the Torre de les Bruixes, of the 14th-15th centuries, which protected one of the old gateways in the north-west of the village. Between the two survives a stretch of the north wall about twenty metres long and four high, with some loopholes and masonry of irregular stones laid in horizontal courses; another fragment of wall is found near the Santa Caterina gateway.
Monument
The former palace of the Marquis of Robert, historicist in style with Renaissance elements (19th century), today home to the Fundació Vila Casas, devoted to contemporary art.
Nature
Playa Gran de l'Estartit is an extensive sandy beach in the municipality of Torroella de Montgrí (Baix Empordà), facing the Illes Medes and the town's main bathing spot. It stretches for about three kilometres from the port of l'Estartit to the mouth of the Ter, describing a slight curve inland, and is divided into three sections: the main beach, next to the residential centre; platja dels Griells, next to the Ter Vell Natural Reserve; and platja de la Pletera, practically free of buildings, with a dune and coastal lagoon system well preserved since the area was de-urbanised in the 1980s. Its southern part is protected within the Montgrí Natural Park, and in 2010 it obtained the UNE 187001:2008 tourism quality certification.
Nature
The Parc Natural del Montgrí, les Illes Medes i el Baix Ter, straddling the comarques of Alt and Baix Empordà, was declared a natural park on 13 May 2010 and covers 8,192 hectares, both land and sea; it includes a partial marine natural reserve in the Illes Medes and a land-based one in the Baix Ter. The Montgrí massif, mostly protected within the park, is a coastal karst formation with cliffs of almost 100 metres above the sea; its southern slope, rockier, traces with its peaks of around 300 metres the silhouette that popular imagination attributes to a reclining abbot, crowned by the Montgrí castle. The Illes Medes, a few metres off the coast, form one of the most important marine reserves in the Mediterranean.
Nature
The Medes Islands, off the coast of l'Estartit, form an archipelago of two main islands, five islets and other smaller islets, with a total area of 21.5 hectares and a geological continuation of the Montgrí massif. They have been a marine reserve since 1990 and form part of the Parc Natural del Montgrí, les Illes Medes i el Baix Ter, one of the most important natural areas in the Mediterranean for its reserve of marine fauna and flora. The only construction on the archipelago is the Meda lighthouse, on the main island, Meda Gran, now uninhabited. Its appeal goes back to antiquity: in the waters surrounding them, shipwreck remains have been found, including sunken Greek vessels, and the islands themselves concealed for centuries traces suggesting their use as a necropolis.
Nature
Limestone mountain massif by the Mediterranean forming the natural divide between Alt and Baix Empordà, spread across the municipalities of Bellcaire d'Empordà, l'Escala, Ullà and Torroella de Montgrí. Its closeness to the lower stretch and mouth of the river Ter, to the aiguamolls de l'Empordà wetlands, and to cliffs and caves gives it a great diversity of habitats, with species such as several orchids, endemic snails and the eagle owl, a large nocturnal bird of prey. On the Puig de la Palma one of the northernmost populations of margalló, the dwarf fan palm, in Catalonia is preserved, although it is doomed to disappear due to the lack of female specimens. Popular imagination sees in the whole the silhouette of a sleeping bishop, whose ring would be the castle crowning the summit.
Nature
The aiguamolls del Baix Ter wetlands, in the municipality of Torroella de Montgrí (Baix Empordà), form a set of wetland areas on the deltaic plain of the rivers Ter and Daró, next to the coast of the bay of Pals, between the Montgrí massif and the Begur mountains, restored through several LIFE projects and with lagoons and dune systems of great value for birdlife. The territory, heavily drained by an extensive network of channels, preserves some ponds and permanent lagoons, and has been affected by the fragmentation and deterioration of its habitats due to tourism and coastal development. Together with the mouth of the Ter and the belt of coastal dunes, it has been protected since 1992 by the PEIN and, since 2010, by the Montgrí, les Illes Medes i el Baix Ter Natural Park.
Activity
Weekly market of various products in the centre of Torroella de Montgrí, a municipality in the Baix Empordà (Girona). It is held every Monday, the day it fills the town's squares and streets with stalls.
Activity
Held every Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the streets of central l'Estartit -avinguda de Roma, carrer Eivissa, carrer Víctor Concas and plaça de l'Església, among others- with stalls selling food, clothing and crafts.
Activity
The Torroella de Montgrí Festival is a music festival held since 1981 in this Baix Empordà town, and a member of the European Festivals Association since 1992. Its concerts, which began as a modest series in the medieval setting of the old town, are held in heritage venues such as the Gothic church of Sant Genís, the Gothic-Renaissance arcaded square and the former Convent of the Augustinians; by 2019, 39 editions had been held, with a total of 928 concerts and more than 435,729 spectators. Performers who have appeared on its stage include the pianists Joaquín Achúcarro and Fazil Say, the cellist Mischa Maisky and the guitarist Narciso Yepes, as well as the Barcelona and National Orchestra of Catalonia and Jordi Savall's Capella Reial de Catalunya.
Activity
Guided diving and snorkelling outings to the marine reserve of the Illes Medes, one of the most visited spots in the western Mediterranean for diving.
Activity
Glass-bottomed boat trips, run by several companies, to observe the marine life of the Illes Medes reserve without getting wet; the reserve has been protected since 1983 and is now part of the Parc Natural del Montgrí, les Illes Medes i el Baix Ter. From the boat you can see underwater meadows of Posidonia oceanica and the caves where red coral grows, once heavily harvested but whose extraction is now banned.
Activity
The Festa Major of Sant Genís, patron of Torroella de Montgrí (Baix Empordà), is held every year on 25 August, within the cycle of popular events that fill much of the month. The village also has a smaller festa major dedicated to Santa Llúcia, of lesser importance than the August patronal festival.
Historical milestone
Dalmau de Rocabertí exchanged in 1272 Torroella and Albons with the infante Pere for the baronies of Vilademuls and Sant Llorenç de la Muga; the town thus entered the crown's patrimony and grew with walls, palaces and a Gothic church.