The Indigetes Route | Cultural Heritage. Goverment of Catalonia.

Getaways

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The Indigetes Route

A getaway to the past in La Selva and the Empordà
According to Graeco-Roman writers such as Avienus, Ptolomy, Strabo and Pliny the Elder, the most prominent Iberians were the Indigetes, who lived in the present-day districts of the Empordà and La Selva. If you would like to know who they were, how they lived, where they lived and what customs they had, don't miss three of Catalonia's most important Iberian settlements: El Puig de Castellet, in Lloret de Mar; Castell, in Palamós; and Ullastret. The route is also a way of enjoying the Costa Brava and its beaches.
 
EL PUIG DE CASTELLET

Start your tour in Lloret de Mar, in La Selva, where you can visit the Puig de Castellet Iberian Settlement. This was a fortified and strategically located position from which the Indigetes dominated a broad band of the coastline and directly controlled the other Iberian settlements in the area. The group of buildings was inhabited for 50 years until 200 BCE, when it was abandoned.
 
CASTELL

After your visit head for Palamós, where you can sample the famous prawns. In the afternoon you can enjoy Es Castell beach, where you will find the settlement of the same name. The settlement was built on this small peninsula in the 6th century BCE to take advantage of the excellent possibilities offered for dominance and defence.
 
ULLASTRET

Finally, visit the Iberian settlement of Puig de Sant Andreu in Ullastret. This settlement is considered to be the largest from that period in Catalonia and it was the Indigetes' capital. Its moment of maximum splendour was around the 4th to 3rd century BCE when it had a population of around 6,000 people. It consists of temples, streets, noble houses, and imposing defensive walls, making it an altogether impressive capital, and one that played an important role in trade, as did the Greek city of Empúries.
 
This route forms part of the Iberian Route, a cultural tourism initiative coordinated by the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya with the aim of raising awareness about the main Iberian settlements in our country, and the people who used to inhabit them.

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