Archeological route

Costa Brava has some of the most fascinating archeological deposits of all the peninsular East. Ancient towns that shows us the lifestyle of the Iberian or the remains of the arrival of Greeks and Romans to the Iberian Peninsula.

Empúries

We start our day in Empúries ruins, where the Greek town will welcome us. The impressive city walls of the Neapolis help us to get an idea of the building capacity of this colonists. In a few metres of the entrance there is Asclepius statue, Greek god of medicine and one of the main icons in Empúries.

Our walk through Neapolis will take us to different areas of the city: the temples, the stoa, the homes, the salting factory, etc.

It is important to reserve time to see calmly the Roman city and the museum because, visually, it may seem that our visit ends in the Greek city but we really still have much to discover.

Some stairs will take us to the impressive and proud Roman city. There is still a lot to dig, but what we can see allows us to get an idea of its dimensions and importance.

One of the spaces that will surely call our attention is the Forum, where have been invested a big restoration, although it is easy that the spectacular domus and its worked mosaics take part of our time.

If we have time before having lunch, we can go to El Portitxol beach and take a bath. During summer months there is an enabled direct access to the beach.

There are many options available for eating out. We can choose to go to Sant Martí d'Empúries where, in addition to eating, we will be able to visit this ancient capital of the county of Empúries. Highly recommended.

Another option is to go to l'Escala, a very touristy town where you will find gastronomic options to suit all tastes.

Ullastret

After having lunch we will move some kilometres to the Iberian city of Ullastret.

One of the first characteristics that will call our attention in this city is its powerful defensive structure, leaded because of its geographical location on the top of Sant Andreu hill, its powerful city walls, and the trench recently discovered by the archeologists.

The diferent archeological interventions carried out since the second half of the XXth century until today, have discovered temples, cisterns, silos, homes and other multiple spaces that permit us to understand better the importance of this town in the Iberian culture.

Our visit end in the museum, where there is an exhibition of the main pieces found during the archeological interventions. In front of the museum, we can enjoy a privileged viewpoint that offers us one of the most beautiful pictures in Baix Empordà.

Palamós

The last point on our route will take us to Castell beach, in Palamós. Once we reach the beach, our first impulse will be to take a dip in the sea, but we will leave that for last, because right next to it awaits us the surprising Iberian settlement of Castell. This site is built on a small peninsula that rises up in front of the beach and totally dominates the surrounding territory.

The different spaces and buildings of this settlement are built on terraces, taking advantage of the steep slope of the terrain. The site is in a remarkable state of conservation. During our visit we will be able to observe the different architectural and urban elements that formed this spectacular population centre. The abrupt orography of the terrain has meant that over the centuries, some parts of the settlement have fallen into the sea, making them unrecoverable.

We wil put the full stop to our day, as we said before, taking a bath in Castell beach. We can go later to Palamós and have dinner, where are very apreciated their tasty prawn, and has one of the main fish markets in Costa Brava.

Extra information: One day before the route we can take information of the prices and schedules of the different diposits in MAC (Museo de Arqueología de Catalunya).