The Sant Feliu de la Garriga Castle (cat. El Castell de Sant Feliu de la Garriga) is a fort declared a cultural asset of national interest next to the temple of Sant Feliu de la Garriga and to the southwest of the urban nucleus of Viladamat (Alt Empordà) to which it belongs, Girona province, Catalonia, Spain. It is a complex formed by the castle and the church, both property of the municipality of Viladamat.
Large construction of rectangular floor plan, consisting of four large connected buildings around a central courtyard. It has single and double sloped tiled roofs and is distributed in to ground and two upper floors. The main facade, facing east, has a reformed access portal with a segmental arch built with bricks, and jambs made from stone ashlars. The remaining openings are rectangular, also framed in stone, with flat lintels and in the case of windows on the first floor with moulded window sills.
The rest of the walls also have rectangular openings framed in stone and some made with bricks. The building is crowned with battlements on all the facades, except the main one. The battlements are rectangular and of medium size, with small embrasures built in bricks. In the patio area, there are two terraces at different levels. The north one, with entry from the first floor of the building, has a part covered with a single slope roof supported by a gallery of semicircular arches, constructed with bricks, open to the patio. On the ground floor, the terrace is supported by four semicircular segmental arches, built with bricks arranged flat and with stone walls. The terrace adjoined to the east wall is completely uncovered and has access from the second floor of the building. In the interior of the construction, on the ground floor, there are several rooms covered with vaults.
On the first floor, there are ceilings covered with Catalan vaults, but also with wooden beams. There are several openings framed with stone ashlars and flat lintels, both inside and outside the building, facing the courtyard. Outside the enclosure, there is a renovated annexed building on the northeast end of the main facade, with a single slope roof and only one floor. It has a rectangular access portal, with a lintel supported by modillions.
The construction is built with unworked stones and pebbles. Corners are finished with squared ashlars.
History
The first family that owned the castle adopted the name Sant Feliu. In the year 1208, there are records of Guillem de Sant Feliu, in 1316, Pere de Sant Feliu was the castle owner, while in 1347 it was Pere Arnau de Sant Feliu. In 1413, Bernat de Sant Feliu, lord of Ullastret, bought the lordship of Castillo de l’Empordà and we know that the castle of Sant Feliu de la Garriga already passed to Gaufred de Vilarig. In 1442, the castle belonged to Gueraula, married to Bernat Guillem de Jofre, who gave it to his daughter Bartomeua, future wife of Dalmau Gallart. In the 16th century, Francesca de Sant Feliu, pubilla (female heir) of Bernat from Sant Feliu, Lord of Ullastret and Castell d’Empordà, was married to Bernat of Margarit “el Vell”, and the castle passed to the Margarit family. In 1640, both the church and the castle suffered a fire, probably related to the Reapers War, at the time the owner of the place was Josep de Margarit and Biure, leader of the Catalan militias and governor of Catalonia.
The family, however, did not lose ownership of the castle and its lands, since, in 1701, Rafaela de Margarit and Biure was its lord. As of the year 1753, Sant Feliu de la Garriga was gradually abandoned, mainly due to the deterioration of the church. That same year, the most valuable objects of worship were moved to Viladamat. In 1870, the Marquesses of Aguilar (title awarded to Josep Margarit i Biure in 1653) sold the castle to Gaietà Cruxent. In 1865, in accordance with the confiscation laws, the parish church of Sant Feliu was sold and subsequently incorporated into the same property as the castle, already converted into a farmhouse.
The present building corresponds to the 17th century reconstruction but, nevertheless, there are certain structures conserved in the interior courtyard, that could correspond to the original castle, documented since the beginning of the 13th century. Currently, in the patio of the building, there is a stone baptismal font from the church of Sant Feliu, which has been reused as a test.
In the surroundings of the castle and the church, on the side of Puig Segalar, fragments of Roman and pre-Roman ceramics were found.
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