Empuries

Shortly after 600 BCE Greeks from Phokaia established a trading settlement here on an island near the coast (now Sant Martí d’Empúries). They called it Emporion (=market). When this became too small they also settled on the mainland and called this Neapolis (= New Town). At the beginning of the 2nd Punic War (218 BCE) the Romans landed here and established a military camp, which later developed into the Roman town of Empuriae. The site has been excavated since 1908 and hosts a museum.