The historical evolution of lagoon draining in the Empordà plane

The Empordà alluvial plane (in the Alt Empordà and Baix Empordà regions) long ago constituted a vast area of wetlands, formed mainly by estanys (inner lagoons) and marshes. But those initial flooded lands, over the passing of the time, became progressively and constantly smaller due to improvement in technologies that allowed human settlement in the territory. The principal aim of this article is to analyze the evolution, throughout history, of the Empordà wetlands, from the point of view both of of the territory and of the landscape, highlighting the historical evolution of the lagoon drainage. Reconstruction of the paleolandscape in the study-field area has been possible thanks to the analysis of historical documentation and ancient and current cartography.