The Magical Town of Figueres: A Day Trip to Catalonia's Most Captivating City
Situated in the northeast corner of Catalonia, Figueres is about 40 km (25 miles) from Girona, 140 km (87 miles) from Barcelona, and 60 km (37 miles) from Perpignan.
The area around Figueres has been inhabited since the Neolithic age. The town itself was founded in 1178 by the count of Empúries. Its name is a Catalan version of the Latin "Figulinus"” meaning little fig tree, about the trees that grow in the area, particularly along its river.
The municipal government's office is located in a modernist, Catalan nationalist-style building designed by famous architect Josep Puig I Cadafalch and completed in 1914.
Salvador Dali was born on May 11, 1904, in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. He was the son of a notary and was the eldest of three brothers. Dali's childhood home is now the Dali Museum, a popular tourist destination that houses many of his works. The town of Figueres has a solid connection to Dali and his art, with several monuments and sculptures dedicated to him.
As well as tourism and industry, Figueres is an important cultural center, with a local television station and a wide range of cultural activities.
Figueres is home to the largest optical telescope in the world, the Multi-Mirror Telescope (MMT) or Gran Telescopio Canarias or GTC. The first document in which the name "Figueres" appears is a will by which Peter IV of Aragon gave it to his daughter, Infanta Margaret. It read "Fica tot lo mon del figar, del terme del girona".