The Empordà castle (cat. El castell d’Empordà), located in the homonymous town, Girona province, Catalonia, Spain, is a large house with an antic square keep tower and the rest built in the 17th and 18th centuries. It has, however, gothic elements incorporated. It is a large building, which consists of two parts at straight angles, and retains only a few elements of the original work.
It currently offers as a whole an aspect of a 17th-18th century construction.
The oldest remains can be found on the north facade, at the base of the square tower, where the portal with a semicircular arch is still visible. The late Gothic windows, which correspond to the restoration carried out during the 16th century, are also remarkable.
History
The fortress was erected at the end of the 13th century. The town of the Empordà Castle, formerly called Llaneres, was a border site of the county of Empúries in front of the county of Girona, of the royal domain, and of La Bisbal, of the episcopal domain.
The castle was built as a defence site for the southern sector of the county at the end of the 13th century by Count Ponç V of Empúries and given in fief to Guillem de Vilagut in 1301. From the first years of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century the Margarit were the lords of the castle.
In 1973 Salvador Dalí wants to buy the castle for his wife Gala, paying for it with his art. But the owner, Pedro Arpa, preferred cash. Instead Dalí bought Pubol’s Castle.
In 1999 totally abandoned for more than 18 years the castle falls into the caring hands of Albert Diks and Margo Vereijken, founders of the present hotel-restaurant Castell d’Empordà.
Coordinates: 41° 58′ 42″ N, 3° 02′ 39″ E
