Pau: Romanesque Architecture, Megaliths and Wetlands

Pau brings together village history, Romanesque architecture and routes through a distinctive cultural landscape. The village is clustered around its church and square, and extends along the routes that lead there. This gives you several different themes to choose from when planning your trip: architectural history in the village, prehistoric heritage or the wetlands landscape.

Church, square and architectural history

The Església Romànica de Sant Martí stands on Plaça Major. The Romanesque church has a single-nave layout and a semicircular apse. Cal Marquès occupies the site of Pau’s medieval castle. The building dates from the 17th and 18th centuries and incorporates older elements; the old castle became the centre of the Barony of Pau. The village’s history thus brings together different periods: the Romanesque church, the medieval castle and a later building on the castle’s former site.

Pau’s houses also contribute to this architectural picture. Their features include vaulted cellars and terraces added to the façades over round arches. Together, the houses form a particularly interesting architectural ensemble. Dry-stone construction is also characteristic of this landscape. Agricultural production in Pau was based on the Mediterranean trilogy of wheat, oil and wine—another facet of local history.

Cultural routes and traces from the distant past

The cultural route “Camí de Peregrins. La Creu Blanca” starts at Sant Martí Church and follows a medieval path from Pau to La Creu Blanca. The route is wide and well paved; it has been used for the movement of people and livestock for a very long time. Another focus is “Pedres i Dolmens,” a cultural route through the megalithic and geological heritage of the Serra de Rodes. The route includes prehistoric burial sites and cultural expressions from the Neolithic period.

The surviving megalithic monuments in Pau show that settlement in this area dates back several thousand years. This brings two distinct perspectives on time together: the Camí de Peregrins focuses on a medieval path and its long history of use, while “Pedres i Dolmens” explores prehistoric heritage. If you choose your excursions by historical theme, this distinction offers a practical guide.

Plain, former lakes and wetlands

“cortals, estanys i closes” runs across the plain and to the former lake; the landscape is considered to be of great natural and scenic interest. The route leads into Pau’s wetlands. There, intermittent ponds alternate with grazing areas for cows and horses, and farmhouses on the shores of former lakes. In the northern part of the plain, the seasonally flooded wetlands known as Pau are among the remains of the former large Estany de Castelló.

Pau is also one of the municipalities that includes the Aiguamolls de l'Alt Empordà protected area, designated under the PEIN. Together with the wetlands described above, this offers a different view of the area than the cultural routes do: here, water, grazing areas and traces of former lakes shape the landscape. The routes therefore do not all focus on the same subject; when choosing, you can distinguish between nature and landscape themes and archaeological or architectural heritage.

Finding your way around

The church and square form the centre of the village; the routes along which Pau extends lead there. A practical landmark is the bicycle parking and bus stop in front of the Empordàlia farm shop in Pau. Discover more destinations: Vilaüt, Bescanó, Besalú, Sant Martí De Llémena, Cantallops, Madremanya, Ullastret, Riudarenes.

For the main travel overview: Girona.