Logbook · 16 places

Walled Enclosure of Besalú

Besalú, Garrotxa, Girona

1 Villages · 11 Monuments · 1 Activities · 2 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

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Walled Enclosure of Besalú

Monument · Besalú, Garrotxa, Girona

Of the walled precinct of Besalú (Garrotxa), declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), remains survive attached to houses, especially by the river and at the Arc on Carrer de Tallaferro; few walls and towers have survived of the many that once surrounded the counts' palace and the town, although in the casa dels Figueres some sections of considerable height are preserved, and most of the blocks are found beside the river Fluvià. Charlemagne divided the present-day province of Girona into four counties —Empúries, Besalú, Girona and Peralada—; the first known count, Odiló, ruled from 785 and authorized the founding of the monastery of Sant Esteve de Banyoles. After twenty independent counts, the county passed to the House of Barcelona when Bernat Guillem, the last of the dynasty, died without descendants.

Photo: Àlex (CC BY-SA 3.0 es)

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