Biure: Medieval Bridge and Trails along the Ricardell

In Biure, the medieval bridge is located within the town center and on the eastern side of the municipality. It spans the Ricardell River with a single shallow-arched span. The bridge is listed in the Inventory of the Architectural Heritage of Catalonia.

Culture and History

Sant Esteve de Biure is protected as a cultural asset of local interest. The church is first mentioned in a document dating from 1107. It is a single-nave church with side chapels and a polygonal apse.

Castell de Biure is designated as a cultural asset of national interest. The surviving remains consist of two wall sections arranged at right angles to each other. Can Sans is a former farmhouse and former oil mill in the town of Biure.

The Pierre Bayle Monument stands at a site that, according to documents and local memory, is associated with General Dugommier’s command post and the fatal wounding of the drummer Pierre Bayle.

The historic sites differ in their documented functions and surviving structures: the medieval bridge with its single shallow-arched span is followed by the Sant Esteve church, the wall remains of Castell de Biure, and the former farmhouse of Can Sans. The monument adds an explicitly documented and locally remembered historical association to these sites.

Nature and Trails

La Fonteta is a natural spring that flows into the Ricardell. The Camí de la Font d’en Buixó is a walking trail approximately 2 kilometers long along the Ricardell, from the town center of Biure to the spring.

The “Ruta pedra seca-Biure. Ruta 20 Alt Empordà” is designated as a named route in Biure.

The Camí de la Font d’en Buixó connects the town center with the La Fonteta spring while remaining alongside the Ricardell. The route is approximately 2 kilometers long; La Fonteta itself is located where the natural spring flows into the river.

Cycling Routes

The G-05 Salines-Bassegoda mountain-biking routes pass through Biure and other nearby towns and are well signposted.

Mountain-biking Route 17 connects Pont de Molins with the Ermita del Roure in Biure and then returns to Pont de Molins.

Mountain-biking Route 18 follows the Ricardell through a riverside woodland. Thanks to the spring rains, this riverside woodland is magnificent for most of the year. The route was affected by the 2012 fire. Until the route has been restored, it is recommended not to ride it without GPS.

For the mountain-biking routes, both the connection between Pont de Molins and the Ermita del Roure and the course of Route 18 along the Ricardell are documented. For Route 18, the information about the route being affected by the 2012 fire is also part of the route description: until it has been restored, riding it without GPS is not recommended.

Other places at this level include: Saus, Camallera i Llampaies:Camallera, Queralbs, Macanet De Cabrenys, La Selva de Mar, Ger, Parlavà, Pals, Santa Pau

To the higher-level travel overview: Girona.