Spain · Still standing
Montgrí Castle
Castillo del Montgrí
Montgrí Castle is a late 13th–early 14th century fortress on the summit of the Montgrí Massif near Torroella de Montgrí, Catalonia. Its built fabric consists of a roughly square 31 m enclosure with four round corner towers and 13 m high battlemented curtain walls; the interior was laid out around a paved central courtyard with a large cistern beneath.
First raised
1300
Its prime
1301
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1301
What Montgrí Castle looked like in its prime.
A compact square fortress of pale limestone ashlar, 31 m on a side, with tall straight curtain walls rising about 13 m to a crenellated parapet. Each corner is anchored by a large cylindrical tower integrated into the wall line. The wall faces are plain, with regular narrow vertical openings and visible tooling on the stone. The castle sits on a rocky, low scrubbed limestone plateau; the interior is an open, stone-paved square with a large cistern beneath.
Its story
The story of Montgrí Castle.
Montgrí Castle was born of a stand-off. The counts of Empúries ruled most of the land around Torroella de Montgrí, and the counts of Barcelona, the most powerful in Catalonia, with great power over the Mediterranean, wanted their moves watched. The court of Barcelona commanded Bernat de Llabià, governor of the royal town, to supervise a fortress on the summit of the Montgrí Massif. Work began in 1294, and the castle was never completed.
What stands is the shell of the plan: a square of battlemented curtain walls 31 metres along each side and 13 metres high, with four round corner towers, in the style of the Middle Eastern fortresses that became popular in Europe after the Crusades. Inside, a stone-paved central courtyard covers a large rainwater cistern; four planned wings of buildings were never built, though toothing stones and springings for arches in the walls still show the structure they were to have.
Its strategic value long gone, the fortress has instead become a symbol of the region. The GR 92 long-distance footpath, roughly following the Mediterranean coast of Spain, passes the castle on its stage between Sant Martí d'Empúries and Torroella de Montgrí.
Step inside
8 places to explore in 1301.
The record describes 8 distinct spots at Montgrí Castle, including 3 interiors: stone-paved central courtyard, underground rainwater cistern beneath the courtyard, interior face of the curtain wall. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Montgrí Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1301, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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