Figueres descended from two Roman towns, Juncària and Figàries, but the actual establishment of the town really started to happen in the 10th century as stated in records from the Sant Pere Monastery that existed in the space where the Sant Pere church is today. As it was not an outpost border town in the Marca Hispanica (such as neighboring Besalú or Peralada), it was of little significance until first made a Royal Town in 1267 and then much later, when the Sant Ferran castle was built from 1753 to 1766.
Once the castle came in to existence, fortunes changed a great deal for Figueres as it became the supply base for the castle. The population grew and it started its course towards being the major town of the region, despite occupation by Napoleon's forces from 1808-1814. Between 1831 and 1840, the Rambla was created by covering a dry riverbed, and thus became a center for the town. The shade trees that stand on the Rambla were originally planted in 1864. In 1877, the railway station was opened. In 1904, the town's most famous resident, one Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech was born.
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was quite hard on the town. The castle became the last outpost for Republican Spain and Franco's forces bombed the town with great ferocity. As was the case with a lot of the surrounding area, many structures were lost in the war, including the main theater, which stood in ruin for several decades.
Upon attaining critical and financial success around the world, Dalí bought the old theater in his home town and converted it in to the museum that we see today, and which is a major draw of tourism to the town.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Figueres
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Figueres - updated May 2024
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Figueres Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
