This village, located in the Fluvià valley, was the capital of the county of Besalú from the 10C to the 12C. Its historic centre is home to one of Catalonia's most impressive Romanesque districts. Note the remains of ramparts, several medieval buildings adorned with fine gemelled windows, and a handsome Romanesque fortified bridge, begun in the 12C and subsequently restored on several occasions.
This town has, in the mediaeval narrow streets that make up its urban layout, diverse examples of the co-existence between the Jewish community that had settled in the area at the beginning of the Middle Ages and the Christian population. Samples of this are the churches of Sant Pere, Sant Vicenç, Santa Maria and Sant Martí, which are set in harmony with remains of Jewish culture, such as the miqwé, or Jewish baths, and the traditional structure of the streets of the call or Jewry.
Besalú started to gain importance as the independent capital of the region in 902, after the death of Guifre el Pelos, (Wilfred the Hairy), but lost this status years later, when it became part of the House of Barcelona.