Monells

The name Monells likely derives from the mills that once stood along the banks of the Rissec river. The town appears in records as early as 922, when the French king Charles III confirmed the Diocese of Girona's properties here, and by 1019 the church of Sant Genís had passed under the cathedral chapter's authority.

The castle sat on the frontier between the County of Girona and the County of Empúries, which made it a constant object of rivalry. A local noble family took the town's name as their own, and it was one of them, Auger de Monells, who in 1103 received permission from Count Ramon Berenguer III to relocate a market from nearby Anyells to Monells. That market grew to become the most important in the region. By 1234 its standard grain measure was recognised by King Jaume I alongside Girona's own as the official basis for cereal prices across the entire diocese.

Ownership of the castle passed through several hands. The viscounts of Bas held it in the mid-medieval period, then it passed by marriage to the Count of Empúries. After conflicts between the last counts of that dynasty and King Jaume II, royal forces seized and sold Monells in 1302. The Countess of Empúries, Maria de Xèrica, spent her final years in the castle between 1364 and 1372, and founded the town's hospital. In 1385 Pere the Ceremonious absorbed Monells into the Crown and granted it significant legal privileges, including the right of its leading citizens to judge all local disputes and a guarantee that no one could be arrested within the market. Annual fairs of ten days each were also established, complementing the weekly market.

The castle was attacked and taken by the remença peasants in 1484. Over time, as the market of La Bisbal d'Empordà grew in importance, Monells's famous market declined and eventually disappeared.

The church of Sant Genís de Monells, documented from the early eleventh century, brings together several architectural periods in a single building: a Romanesque apse and chancel, a Gothic nave, and a Baroque west façade with bell tower. In the cemetery, a Gothic funerary slab marks the grave of the knight Arnau de Pontós, from one of the most prominent families in the town's history. The wider monumental ensemble also includes the Plaça de Jaume I, the Plaça de l'Oli, and the castle viewpoint.