Biure

Biure is a municipality in the county of Alt Empordà, in the Girona region. The village lies at the confluence of the rivers Llobregat d'Empordà and Ricardell. At the end of the seventeenth century as a real place it consists of mayor of Figueres.

With traditional spelling Viure d'Emporda, the place name may be derived from a root Basque ur, "water", or uri, "city", or Latin vivere bone, "good living".

The earliest mention is Biure appears in a document containing 1,107 Etha's will. The beneficiaries include the church of Sancti Stephani of Benevivere.

The year 1219 in a document of diocesan archive of Girona Biure appears in a list of tithes belonging to ampurdanés tycoon Guillem of Cervià.

In 1294, King James II confirm and extend the privileges of the Letter of Figueras. This document is included as Biure real place, without being subject to any feudal lord belonging directly to the mayor of Figueres. Although the tithes of the parish of San Esteban de Biure changed repeatedly beneficiary, including the Rocabertí included.

1375 a confrontation between the inhabitants of Biure with the city of Figueres is recorded. The conflict arose when the town of Figueras claimed a contribution to repair its walls appealing to a privilege granted by Jaume II and the inhabitants of Biure refused. From the document produced by this litigation, it is known that the Avignon owns the castle in Biure do. 1407 William of Avignon has faced the Rocabertí family on numerous occasions for control of the parish and the castle of Biure. In 1450, finally, the lordship of Avignon is confirmed as lord of Biure. Already in the eighteenth century rights Biure Castle were the Earl of Torralba. In 1787, the census Biure d'Empordà assigns a population of 185 inhabitants.

The old town of Biure is a set included in the Inventory of Architectural Heritage of Catalonia. It is located on the side of noon the urban fabric of the population. The most remarkable part noon articulated church of St. Stephen. The village consists of streets arranged in steep slope, since the area is high. Most houses can be ascribed to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In general, buildings are rectangular, with two slopes covered with tile and distributed in ground floor and several upper floors. They have rectangular openings, with simple frames or made of bricks, and some portals arch. Many of these buildings are topped by eaves decorated with triangles painted in imitation of the eaves sawtooth. One of the houses in the northwest of the church has the eaves dated 1776.

The buildings are built of stone without working of various sizes arranged irregularly and tied with plenty of lime mortar. Other constructions present the walls plastered and painted. It is likely that some of the stones used to build these houses come from the ancient castle of Biure, located about three hundred meters from the villa, which dated only a few walls remain between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.