Montgrí Massif
Encyclopedia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, on the north bank of the Ter
Ter
Ter is a prefix or suffix designating the third instance of a thing, thus following bis and preceding quater.Ter can also refer to:* River Ter, in Essex;* Ter , the debut album of American rock band Sweet Water...
river. It is part of the Catalan Coastal Range
Catalan Coastal Range
The Catalan Coastal Range is a system of mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast in Catalonia. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System. Its main axis runs between the Foix River and the Roses Gulf and the average altitude is around 500 m...
and its highest point is 311 m.
Features
The Montgrí Massif stretches from east to west north of the town of Torroella de MontgríTorroella de Montgrí
Torroella de Montgrí is a small town in Catalonia, on the north bank of the Ter river.-Features:The town is 22 km east of Girona and 5 km west of the resort of L'Estartit...
, sheltering it from the Tramontana
Tramontana
Tramontana or Tramontane can refer to:*Tramontane, a northern wind *the Pole Star*Tramontane, a science fiction novel by Emil Petaja...
northern wind. Local people call it simply "el Montgrí".
This long mountain formation looks like a sleeping bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
seen from afar.
The Montgrí Massif is topped by an ancient fortress in the middle, the Montgrí Castle
Montgrí Castle
The Montgrí Castle is a historical edifice in Torroella de Montgrí, Catalonia, Spain, built between 1294 and 1301. Its reason to be was the existing conflict between the counts of Empúries - who ruled over most of the area around the town - and the counts of Barcelona, the most powerful of...
. Local people say the castle is the ring on the sleeping bishop's hand.
It is a largely denuded karstic mountain, beaten by the persistent winds that blow in the region. It has some dunes at its feet, on its northern side, which formed by windblown sand coming from the shores of distant Roses. These dunes were fixed about a century ago by and lie now covered under low forest.
The Medes Islands further east, beyond the town of l'Estartit
L'Estartit
L'Estartit is a small town and seaside resort on the Costa Brava, on the north-eastern coast of Spain.The town is situated between the foothills of the Montgrí Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, and is part of the borough of Torroella de Montgrí, in the Baix Empordà county, Girona province,...
, are a geological prolongation of this massif.
Ecology
The vegetation on this massif consists mostly of low mediterranean scrub among rocks. There are some clumps of Mediterranean Fan Palm (Chamaerops humilis), being one of the northernmost locations where this small palm grows wild.The lower edges of the mountain have some mediterranean forest, made up mainly of pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
(Pinus halepensis), as well as some cork oak
Cork Oak
Quercus suber, commonly called the Cork Oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring. It is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa.It grows to up to 20 m,...
(Quercus suber) and oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
(Quercus sp.).
The owls
Eurasian Eagle Owl
The Eurasian Eagle-Owl is a species of eagle owl resident in much of Eurasia. It is also one of the largest types of owls.-Description:The Eagle Owl is a large and powerful bird, smaller than the Golden Eagle but larger than the Snowy Owl...
(Bubo bubo) nest in some of the caves of the sides of the long hill system. There is a variety of endemic land snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
inhabiting this mountain range.
Formerly there were vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s on the side of the Montgrí. They were abandoned in the 19th century following severe phylloxera
Phylloxera
Grape phylloxera ; originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated to the previously described Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Phylloxera vitifoliae; commonly just called phylloxera is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...
plagues. Remains of the ancient vineyards can still be seen.
The Montgrí Massif is often ravaged by wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s, especially during long dry spells; the last serious fire was in 2004.