After spending the morning captivated by Salvador Dali's Theater-Museum in Figueres on the Costa Brava, we drove to the small town of Empuries on the coast to see one of the most important archaeological sites in Spain. On the way, we had our first view of the snow capped Pyrenees, the mountain range that forms a natural border between Spain and France.
In the short time we'd had the rental car, we'd driven around a zillion roundabouts. One of my favorites was this one.
Petite Peratallada had been described as the most memorable of the walled, medieval villages in Costa Brava so we headed there next. Peratallada is one of Catalunya's most important medieval towns and has been declared to be of artistic and historical interest and an asset of cultural importance. The old fortress sat atop a huge sandstone base that had been used as quarry ever since ancient times.
Many of the watchtowers that were part of the 12th and 13th century defense system were still saved in the medieval complex at Peratallada. They were located at strategic points along the city walls to dominate the surrounding region and provide greater resistance.
We noticed the tourist information office was open in Castle Square which seemed mighty optimistic given the few numbers of tourists! I don't think we saw more than a dozen or so people as we strolled the streets but know it'd be a mob scene in the most idyllic of towns in the summertime.
The current castle was the result of a long process of construction over many centuries. The first written reference was from 1065 but remains had been found showing the existence of a much older fortress, probably Roman or Visigoth origin. The castle was the epicenter of power between the powerful political barony of the Cruilla-Peratallada, one of the most important families in medieval Catalunya.
We saw a sign for a church and wondered if these ruins were it.
As it turned out, the church only appeared to be in ruins from the exterior but restoration was going on inside so we weren't able to see much.
The moat looked a long way down!
Steven and I both smiled when we saw this poster advertising a concert that had recently taken place from a musical trio from Kazakhstan as we had just arrived from that country a few days previously.
Once we arrived at Empuries, we took one look at the lovely Mediterranean beach and almost immediately gave up the idea of being culture vultures and looking at the ancient city's mini-Pompeii ruins of what was once a thriving Greek and later Roman town. Since we'd had pretty lousy weather for way too long, the prospect of walking along the rocky coastline and then relaxing on the small beach on the Mediterranean for a couple of hours sounded too good to pass up.
The ruins were just to the left of the walking trail by the beach.
Zachary: These puny little shells were the only intact ones I was able to find for you when I scoured the beach looking for some for you. I know one of them has already broken and am hoping the other two make it home unscathed.
Later, I couldn't resist taking some photos through the fence of the remains which may have shown the amphitheater, forum and various Roman villas. Who knows?! It would have been fantastic to see the amazingly intact floor mosaics but some time in the sun seemed more important at that point.
When the wind picked up on the beach, we hopped in the car to head toward Torroella de Montgri and its 13th century castle high atop the mountain. Even after having driven through the winemaking regions of Napa and Sonoma Valleys in northern California, I don't remember seeing see as many vineyards there as we did while we were in the Costa Brava area.
The roads were gloriously empty without all the summer tourists as we drove through one more picturesque stone village after another.
After driving around Torroella de Montgri in circles several times, we gave up finding the path to the castle and decided to just walk around the town. In one of the town's squares was this sculpture honoring the Sardana, the traditional national dance of Catalunya. We'd hoped to watch the dance which takes place every Sunday, weather permitting, in front of Barcelona's cathedral.
We'd planned our visit to the cathedral the previous Sunday for it but the weather failed to cooperate so there was no dancing in the streets! The sardana involves circles of people joining their hands together and, with them raised, dancing with small, precise steps, slowly round and round while people join to make the circle bigger.
I'd read that this traditional market town was full of rambling lanes lined with Gothic courtyards and Renaissance mansions coming off the porticoed main Placa de la Vila or City Hall Square which sounded so delightful.
What we found, though, were totally deserted streets on a Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 with nary a shop, cafe or bar open! We realized after looking at some signs the afternoon siesta lasted from 1:30-5 so that explained why the town was dead as a door nail. Did you notice the Catalunya flag in the central square?
Walking back to our car, I did finally notice some people out in the town. Steven and I had observed just in our couple of days in the Costa Brava area that were a lot more North African people there than we'd noticed in our almost week in Barcelona.
The village's Clock Tower was built in the 12th century as part of the defense system before being adapted and converted into a clock tower. It was the second largest building in town after the keep and reputedly one of the most iconic images of the village's buildings.
Once we walked across the moat, it was like we'd been transported back a thousand years!
The castle became the epicenter of one of the major feudal domains when, in 1250, the families of Peratallada and Cruilles became united by the marriage of the heiress Guilleme de Peratallada to the baron Gilabert de Cruilles.
I hope these photos help convey the simply gorgeous, winding cobbled streets and fantastically pretty plazas.
I don't think I've ever seen this particular, gorgeous shade of blue outside the Mediterranean before.
Wandering, virtually by ourselves, the narrow lanes of this ancient town was any photographer's dream come true. Never had we been in such a uniquely lovely town as Peratadalla with its cobblestone streets, stone walls and no visible trappings of our modern ways of life.
We noticed the tourist information office was open in Castle Square which seemed mighty optimistic given the few numbers of tourists! I don't think we saw more than a dozen or so people as we strolled the streets but know it'd be a mob scene in the most idyllic of towns in the summertime.
Placa de les Voltes or Arcade Square was the village's social epicenter for many centuries and a sheltered area when the weather was bad. Arcaded squares, or squares with arches, were very common in the Middle Ages in this area.
The square was so, so charming, even though almost bereft of people, open shops and cafes save one.
We saw a sign for a church and wondered if these ruins were it.
St. Esteve Church, located just outside the city walls, looked like the mission churches we'd seen this past summer in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The church was a late Romanesque church, meaning from the 12th and 13th centuries, and had two naves with semi-circular apses. A watchtower was built over an apse in the 14th and 15th centuries. A Gothic tomb contained the remains of a local Governor in the mid 1300s.
As it turned out, the church only appeared to be in ruins from the exterior but restoration was going on inside so we weren't able to see much.
Out back was a small cemetery but I didn't see any dates on any of the markers.
In the Middle Ages, the village's heyday, the road from Empuries - the town we'd visited earlier that afternoon - ran through Peratallada. This would have been the main entrance to the village but we only discovered it after walking through the town and then on to the church! We walked back through town from this main gate.
The moat looked a long way down!
Just as we were left almost spellbound by the very old world charms of Peratallada, the drive through the spectacular Costa Brava countryside in the early evening was an absolute delight.
On the way back to our hotel in Roses, we found a bar open in tiny Sant Pere Pescador that was luckily serving dinner. As you might figure from its name, its specialty was fish but Steven had his signature spaghetti dish and I had a huge plate of chicken with these mini croquettes which were yummy.
Next post: Salvador Dali's outrageous and magnificent home in Port Ligat.
Posted on December 8th, 2018, from Lisbon, Portugal.
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