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The County of del Pla de l'Estany
| The lake from the puig Surís
hill Photo: Ejarque |
The County of Pla de l'Estany was created by the Act dated March 28th
1988 of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and based on a public opinion pool
in the municipality in order to establish the borders of the areas (Counties)
forming Catalonia according to the Act and Decree of 1987.
Ours is
a County which division had not been foreseen in 1936 and is something that had
been longed for by the inhabitants in Banyoles and
the towns around it, who regard the market in Banyoles and the economic
and demographical power as holding the features which define a county.
All the municipalities forming the new county have been taken from north-west part of the county of el Gironès.
The territory is featured by and receives the name from the fertile plain of the lake of Banyoles, among the valleys of the Fluvià and the Ter rivers and which continue from the plain Empordà, bordered east by mountain range of Rocacorba. The Lake of Banyoles presides on a beautiful and soft landscape, most humanised, where fields and patches of wood can be seen.
| Spot named "els Desmais" Photo: Ejarque |
On the mountainous side, we can find closed valleys where rural life goes on, with cultivation fields in the background and woods of Holm-oak, oaks and alders in the valleys, with small villages formed by scattered manor houses.
Banyoles is the unquestionable capital of the county, because of historical, economical and demographic reasons. its market has been recorded since 1806 and has splendydly survived up to the present time.
There was also an important manufacturing activity, specially in the textile field, as wel as in leather, iron and copper. After a recession in the last century, the industrial sector had a fresh push and diversified. Besides, Banyoles has always had its function as a tourist centre and as a summer holiday resort, due to the beauty of its landscape and the attraction of the lake.
The economy of the county has been based on agriculture, partly thanks to the fact that there is plenty of water (irrigation ditches from the lake) and to the quality of its soil. An important complement to that is formed by farming, specially the bovine, porcine and poultry rearings. The industry is still centered in Banyoles (Textile, furniture, metal, nourishment) and spreads following the road links towards Girona and Olot, up to the municipalities of Porqueres, Cornellà del Terri, Palol de Revardit and Serinyà.
| Orfes church (Vilademuls) Photo: Ribera |
The trade equipment of the town, on the other hand, has been competitive enough to keep up to date in spite of the proximity of such centres as Girona, Olot or Figueres.
The human inhabitancy comes from the earliest Palaeolíthic, proved by the finding of the famous mandible of Banyoles and the abundant deposits in Serinyà (Visit The deposits tour.)
In the medieval age the area of Pla de l'Estany was part of the county of Besalú, which had its own dynasty from 988 to 1111, when it joined the county of Barcelona.
As far as the administration was concerned, it still depended on the submagistrate of Besalú, and ecclesiastically belonged to Girona. Beside the power held by the monastery of Sant esteve in Banyoles upon a lot of parishes and lands in the Pla de l'Estany, there were a series of small lordly dominions which left their castles as witnesses: Palol de Revardit, Cornellà del Terri, Porqueres, Vilademuls, Esponellà and Falgons among others.
You can find further
information about
the territorial organization of Catalonia in:
Catalonia goverment
In the heart of Catalonia
| South of Europe | |
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| 41º 08' N - 2º 45' E Banyoles lake co-ordinates |
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