Discover Pau: Nature, Trails and Megalithic Heritage

The megalithic monuments preserved in Pau show that settlement in this area dates back several thousand years. The village of Pau is clustered around its church and square and extends along the paths leading there.

Culture and History

In Pau’s Plaça Major stands the Església Romànica de Sant Martí, a single-nave Romanesque church with a semicircular apse. Cal Marquès stands on the site of Pau’s medieval castle; the building dates from the 17th and 18th centuries and contains older elements. The old castle of Pau became the centre of the Barony of Pau. The houses of Pau include vaulted cellars, among other features. Terraces have been added to their façades above round arches; together, the houses form an architecturally particularly interesting ensemble. Dry-stone construction is characteristic of this landscape.

The surviving remains of Castell de Vilaüt include two towers that may date from the 13th or 14th century. The surviving remains also include water-filled defensive ditches.

Trails and Heritage

The “Camí de Peregrins. La Creu Blanca” begins at Sant Martí Church. It is a cultural trail along a medieval route from Pau to La Creu Blanca. The broad, well-paved path has served for a very long time as a route for people and livestock.

The “Pedres i Dolmens” route encompasses various prehistoric burial sites and cultural expressions from the Neolithic period. It is a cultural trail dedicated to the megalithic and geological heritage of the Serra de Rodes.

Nature and Wetlands

Pau is one of the municipalities in which the Aiguamolls de l'Alt Empordà area, protected under the PEIN, is located. “cortals, estanys i closes” is a route through the plain and to the former lake. The landscape along this route is of great natural and scenic interest.

The route leads into the wetlands of Pau. There, intermittent ponds alternate with grazing areas for cows and horses, as well as farmhouses on the shores of former lakes.

In the northern part of the plain lie the seasonally flooded Estanys de Pau. They are among the remnants of the former large Estany de Castelló.

Agriculture and Townscape

Agricultural production in Pau was based on the Mediterranean trinity of wheat, oil and wine. In front of the Empordàlia-Agrotienda in Pau, there are bicycle racks and a bus stop.

The three components of the Mediterranean trinity concisely describe the agricultural character of the area: cereal cultivation, oil production and winegrowing belong together here. The connection with the plain also remains visible in the trails, former lakes and agriculturally used land. Thus, the townscape combines historic buildings, old route connections, dry-stone walls, farmhouses and water-shaped landscapes. These details extend from the village centre into the surroundings of Pau and make the different traces of settlement and land-use history legible.

Vilaüt is also part of Pau.

Other places: Vilanant, Figueres, Forallac, Romanyà d'Empordà, Vallfogona de Ripollès, Madremanya, Torroella De Montgri.

For the overarching travel overview: Girona.