Empordà

The Empordà [ əmpurða ] (Spanish Empordà, German Empordà ) is the fertile hinterland of the Costa Brava in the Catalan province of Girona in Spain. The historic county Empordà 1936 was divided into two circuits: Alt Empordà ( " Alt Empordà ", the main town of Figueres ) and Baix Empordà ( " Niederampurien ", the main town of La Bisbal d' Empordà ). The name of the region derives from the ancient Greek settlement Roses ( Greek emporium, latin Emporiae ) near the present town of Roses.

History

In the hinterland of the Costa Brava, in the Roussillon ( on the French side ) and in the Alt Empordà one counts 112 dolmens, menhirs 19, 7 stone boxes with grave hills, rocks with 378 engravings and 2 Neolithic villages. The relative isolation of the areas now as natural parks or archaeological parks ( Parc de Megalític Roses) are declared, is to thank for that here many prehistoric monuments have been preserved.

Wine Culture

The Denominació d' Origen Empordà applies, with around 2,300 hectares of vines on calcareous soil as the cradle of wine production in Spain, on the French Roussillon. The climate is Mediterranean, dangerous for the growth are the cold north winds. The main grape varieties are Chenin Blanc, Macabeo, Moscatel, Parellada, Riesling, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer Xarello as well. Red varieties are Carintilde, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Tempranillo. The DO Empordà is considered an important Rosado production area. The winemakers but also traditionally strong alcohol Rancios ago.

Art and Music

The Empordà has often been discussed in the visual arts and music: So portrays the Sardana L' Empordà the rise of the fertile, flat, coastal landscape of the Empordà as a result of love between a mermaid of the Mediterranean and a shepherd from the Pyrenees, which in Winter the inhospitable mountains leaves with his flock in order to survive on the coastal plain. Here forfeit the shepherd of the love of a siren. The end of the song in Catalan is: ... i de l' amor plantar Mata's church, fou l' Empordà! ( German: "... and from this love, they created their homes So emerged Empordà. !") Both the librettist Joan Maragall and the composer of this Sardana from 1908 Enric Morera enjoy in Catalonia highest appreciation for this " creation story " of the Empordà.