Girona Natura WalksHortes de Santa Eugènia

Hortes de Santa Eugènia Description of the routeThis itinerary will reveal the importance of industry and vegetable gardens for the old village of Santa Eugènia de Ter, which is currently one of the most popular quarters of the city of Girona.In that sense, the route makes it easy to interpret the new uses of spaces: how we've gone from professional market gardens to urban ones; how the old factory has become a cultural venue; how a farmhouse has become a civic centre; or how marginal spaces have been turned into urban wetlands.

This itinerary which is approximately 2,2 km in long, is flat and practicable for persons with reduced mobility. This means that there may be certain isolated difficulties, but the route is usable. Most of the itinerary is on compacted but non-asphalted earth. There are a few areas that are irregular or where there are stones and/or sand.

The information contained in this brochure is available on the Natura Local app, complete with audio descriptions, subtitles and sign-language interpretation.

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Oficina de TurismeRambla de la Llibertat, 117004 GironaTel. 972 010 001www.girona.cat/turisme

1. STARTING POINTThe itinerary begins at this car park located next to the Avinguda Josep Tarradellas. This avenue runs alongside the Güell river, one of the four rivers that cross the city of Girona, and which flows into the river Ter a few metres from this point.

2. THE REC TRAIENT AND SOCIAL VEGETABLE GARDENSThe Rec Traient (Traient irrigation channel) collects the surplus water that flows from the different channels that water the vegetable gardens. After it is diverted from the river Ter, 6 km upstream, the water returns to the river. Throughout its course, the vegetation (rushes, reeds and willows) points to the presence of water.The vegetable gardens that can be seen from this area are council-owned, and can be rented. The quarter of Santa Eugènia's cultural diversity is reflected by the variety of plants that are grown. Next to the vegetables traditionally grown in the region, it's not uncommon to find peanuts, okra, coriander or mint.

3. CAL GRAS, CA L’ESCOLÀ AND REC MONARScattered around the Hortes (vegetable gardens) area, there are a number of country houses and gardeners' houses, like the ones we find at this point: Ca l’Escolà (straight ahead) and Cal Gras (to the right).The canal is the Monar irrigation channel, which carries water diverted from the river Ter's right bank at the Pilastra dam, located at the edge of the villages of Bescanó and Salt. The irrigation channels waters the vegetables gardens in Salt and Girona and drains into the Onyar, in the city.Mentions of it date back to the 11th century, and it was apparently built by the counts of Girona. It has been used for agricultural and industrial purposes, and played an important role in the industrialisation of Salt (the Gasol, Coma and Cros factories, among others), Santa Eugènia (the Marfà factory) and the Mercadal quarter of Girona, where the most prominent factories (Grober) set up in the 19th century.

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distance (m)2,2002,0001,8001,6001,4001,2001,0008006004002000

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80

74

79

73

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070

Startingpoint

25770

RecTraient

47474

RecMonar

69075

Santa Eugèniade Ter

145373

Can Po Vell

176371

CarriletGreenway

200470

Wetlands ofSanta Eugènia (I)

116574,5

CanPaquetilla

132673,5

Santa Eugènia'spublic wash-house

231770

Wetlands ofSanta Eugènia (II)

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Can Po NouEspai Marfà

Ca l'Escolà

C. del Güell

les SorreresSéquia Monar

SANTA EUGÈNIA

Palaude Fires

Camí del Torín

Pont del DimoniMaristes Girona

Pg. de la Devesa

Pg. de la Devesa

Pont de Fontajau

Deveses d'en Bru

C. de Santa Eugènia

C. del Poble Saharauí

Hortes deSanta Eugènia

Escola Oficiald'Idiomes Auditori-Palau

de Congressos

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Can Po Vell

Startingpoint

Rec Monar

Can Paquetilla

Rec Traient

Santa Eugènia'spublic wash-house

Carrilet Greenway

Santa Eugèniade Ter

Wetlands ofSanta Eugènia (II)

Wetlands ofSanta Eugènia (I)

0 100 200 300 400 500 metres1 cm = 70 m

el Ter

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Sortida 6BGirona Oest

Hortes deSanta EugèniaOlot,

50 km

Palamós,45 km

Sant Feliu de Guíxols,33 km

França, 65 kmFigueres, 45 km

Barcelona, 100 kmAeroport, 10 km

Sortida 7Girona Sud

Sortida 6Girona Nord

SaltGirona

Sarrià de Ter

N-II

C-65

C-66

E-15

AP-7

N-141

E-15AP-7

N-II

Turisme actiu a Girona Ruta de Sant MiquelGirona Natura Walks Hortes de Santa Eugènia

More information about nature routesaround Girona www.girona.cat/turisme

Hortes de Santa Eugènia itinerary (circular route)

Distance: 2,2 km Approximate time: 1 h 15 min Difficulty: Easy Maximum height: 75 m

4. THE OLD VILLAGE OF SANTA EUGÈNIA, CAN NINETES AND THE MARFÀ FACTORYSanta Eugènia de Ter was a municipality that was annexed to Girona in 1963. The most important traces of its old quarter are Can Ninetes and the old Marfà textile factory, which currently serve as a civic centre and a cultural facility, respectively. The stately mansion next to Can Ninetes belonged to the factory owners. The itinerary continues along Carrer de Baix, a well-kept example of working-class terraced-houses.

7. CAN PO VELLCan Po Vell, is an old vegetable-gardener's house. It has been restored, and since it stands at a strategic location amidst the Hortes (vegetables gardens), it currently serves as the Municipal school-workshop where construction workers and gardeners are trained. .

8. CARRILET GREENWAYAt this point, the route crosses the Carrilet Greenway. This cycling-tourism itinerary makes use of the disused narrow-gauge railway line connecting Girona and Olot (54 km), later continuing to Sant Feliu de Guíxols (39.7 km). Here the Green Trail coincides with the Ruta del Ter (Ter route), which in turn follows the course of the river Ter, from the Pyrenees until the sea.

9. WETLANDS OF SANTA EUGÈNIA (I)The wetlands of Santa Eugènia were created in 2008 on a piece of land that had served for many years for waste recovery. The water that fills them comes from the irrigation channels that water the vegetables gardens before returning to the river Ter. The river passes behind the hillock, and is flanked by a lush forest of alders, poplars and ash trees.

10. WETLANDS OF SANTA EUGÈNIA (II)At this point, which is nearing the end of the itinerary, we find a second wetland. Unlike the previous ones, which are open to the public, access to these wetlands is restricted to research activities and the protection of fauna and flora.

5. CAN PAQUETILLACan Paquetilla is a plastered and painted country house dating from the 1950s, whose traditional architecture is that of the last generation of Catalan country houses, in the form of a single, large-sized construction with a gable roof. These buildings are an essential part of the Hortes' agricultural landscape and history.

6. PUBLIC WASH-HOUSEThis public wash-house, which was restored in 2007, is an example of vernacular architecture from the start of the 20th century. Doing the laundry there—an activity that was exclusively performed by women in those days—was commonplace well into the 20th century, when the first electrical appliances began to appear, making it possible to carry out the task at home. Wash-houses proved highly convenient for women, who no longer had to walk down to the river to do the laundry, but could instead do so near, home, standing up and under a roof. The wash-house was also a place for socialising and finding out what was going on in the village. In Catalan, fer safareig (doing the laundry at a wash-house) also means to gossip.

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