Alt Empordà

Alt Empordà (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈaɫt əmpurˈða], "Upper Empordà") is a comarca (county) in Girona, Catalonia, Spain, one of two into which Empordà was divided by the comarcal division of Catalonia in 1936, the other one being Baix Empordà.

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Coordinates: 42°17′17″N 2°55′59″E / 42.2881°N 2.93306°E / 42.2881; 2.93306

Empordà

Empordà (Catalan pronunciation: [əmpurˈða]) is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain, divided since 1936 into two comarques, Alt Empordà and Baix Empordà.

The city of Figueres, an important urban and economic center of the Empordà, was designated the capital of Alt Empordà, while La Bisbal d'Empordà, following a more geographic and historical criteria, became the capital of Baix Empordà.

Empordà has been the cradle for many pictoric schools, with surrealism being an outstanding one, and artist such as Salvador Dalí, Angel Planells, Joan Massanet and Evarist Vallès.

Etymology

The name Empordà is a derivative of Empúries (Empòrion in Old Greek or Emporiae in Latin), which means "the markets".

The name Empordà comes from a succession of phonetic derivatives of County of Empúries, a county which had its capital first in Sant Martí d'Empúries and then in Castelló d'Empúries the capital of medieval Empordà during the period of political splendor of this county. This was one of the most insurgent towards the royal power and one of the lasts to join the Crown of Aragon, and that led to a few curious episodes like the deviation of the Ter (river) or the unfinished build of the Montgrí Castle on top of the Montgrí Massif.

Empordà (DO)

Empordà is a Spanish Denominación de Origen (DO) (Denominació d'Origen in Catalan) for wines produced in the northeastern corner of Catalonia, Spain.

Until 2006, it was initially known as DO Empordà-Costa Brava to associate the large tourist beach area with the region. The region generally extends from the town of Figueres northwards to the French border and the French wine-making regions of Banyuls and Côtes du Roussillon. To the south, it extends through the Baix Empordà county near the Mediterranean Sea.

The DO is crossed by the rivers Muga, Llobregat and Manol which flow eastwards to the sea.

The DO Empordà comprises 2020 hectares of vineyards in the counties of Alt Empordà and Baix Empordà, with 423 winegrowers and 45 wineries registered with the Regulatory Council, and an estimated annual production of approximately 50,000 hectolitres or 3.5 million bottles of wine.

History

Archaeologists have suggested that vines were first introduced to this region by the Phoenicians in the 5th century BC. The ancient Romans and the Benedictine monks later also contributed. The first written documentation dates from 1130 and was a treatise on wine written by Father Pere de Novas in the Monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes.