This one-time island was first occupied in the ninth and eight centuries BC (the late bronze age). By the sixth century BC, trading had commenced with the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians and Phocians. The name Emporiom is mentioned as a market at the end of that century.

Later on, the indigenous people (Indiketes Iberians) and Greco-Phocian traders moved onto dry land and the great port of Empúries was born, taking in the subsidiary ports of L’Escala and La Clota in the second century. It has been settled continuously down to our own day, and still retains its medieval wall, built on the remains of Greek stonework, and the 1583 church dedicated to Saint Martin (which was apparently built on the remains of an ancient temple dedicated to Ephesus Artemis).

It was the seat of the first capital of the county of Empúries down to 1064. Near the entrance to the small Fort (NW), the writer Víctor Català laid out a garden (on La Francesca street, number 7).