Torre de l'Esparra

Torre de l'Esparra, situated at the top of a hill near the raval de L'Esparra, is a medieval house-fort. It was first mentioned in the 14th century as a castell or força de la Roqueta. While the Xammar (or Xetmar) family were perhaps the first owners, the structure dates back to the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century. In 1294, the monarch Jaume II forced Ponç Hug IV d'Empúries to lift the siege of the castle of l'Esparra.

The tower has a square shape with a slightly trapezoidal ground plan and stands about 10 meters tall. It features two floors, where the lower level was originally only accessible from above. A door at the main level, likely added later, sits below a smaller upper door finished with a semi-circular arch and seven voussoirs. Beneath this upper door are two holes intended to support the beams of a wooden platform used to reach the tower.

On the ground floor, twelve spitelles surround the wall, measuring about 85 cm high and 35 cm wide. Inside, a pointed vault with remains of wattle separates the floors. The walls are constructed from roughly hewn granite stones held with lime mortar, while the corners are reinforced with well-cut limestone. A few remains of a fortified enclosure still exist nearby, including a fragment of a wall with three spitelles and a possible cistern with walls 2.7 meters thick.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons