Ampurias Tourist Attractions

The excavations of the ancient Greek town of Emporion, now Ampurias (Catalan Empúries), lie just above the sea on the Costa Brava, 35km/ 22mi northwest of Gerona, with extensive views of the promontories to north and south. The nearby village bears the name of San Martín de Ampurias (Catalan Sant Martí de Empúries).HistoryIn the 6th century B.C. a Greek settlement, probably called Kypsela but known to archaeologists as Palaiopolis, was established on an island at the mouth of the Río Fluviá. Soon, however, the increasing numbers of settlers made it necessary to establish a new settlement on the mainland to the south. This was called Emporion (in Greek, "market"), and now, under the name of Neapolis ("new city"), constitutes the greater part of the excavation site. Between the two settlements was the harbor, now silted up. The Romans captured the Greek colony in the third century B.C., and during the Second Punic War the first Roman troops, led by Scipio Africanus, landed here to establish a diversionary front against Hannibal. In 195 B.C., the town was Cato the Elder's base in his campaign to subdue the Iberians. Finally Caesar established a colony of veterans which flourished particularly in the A.D. first and second centuries. The decline of the city, which in early Christian times became the see of a bishop, began with the Frankish and Alemannic incursions. When the town of La Escala was founded nearby in the 17th century the ruins of Emporion became a quarry of building material. The first excavations were carried out by the Spanish archaeologist Emilio Gandía y Ortega.