Empordà

Empordà 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.EtymologyThe 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.