In the second half of the XIX century, Catalan landscape painting acquired an importance and personality previously unknown to this genre. Among the landscape artists of the moment were Josep Armet and Josep Berga, however it was Joaquim Vayreda who became the foremost Catalan landscape painter. In his work, the landscape took centre stage.
Vayreda was the founder of the Olot School of countryside painting, a movement characterised by the taste for painting from nature and directly inspired by the works of the French artists of Barbizon School. Their canvases, which enjoyed wide exposure and considerable success, influenced numerous Catalan landscape painters.
The Museu de la Garrotxa has an extensive collection of paintings by the Olot School, and the Museu dels Sants has a collection centred on one of Olot's traditional industries: religious imagery. And it is Olot's saints' workshops that make virtually all the religious sculptures that are found around the world. The museum shows the whole process of making these pieces and allows you to see, first hand, the inside of a workshop (on week days).
Olot School
Routes and excursions TOP
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Along the old monks’ paths. Route 2 Santa Pau
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Bestracà and Sant Miquel d'Hortmoier route
Beautiful route to the valley of Hortmoier, one of the quietest in the Alta Garrotxa, wet all year round, surrounded by cliffs.
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Croscat volcano. Natural Park route 15
The volcano of Croscat and its gredales are one of the jewels of the Natural Park of the Volcanic Zone of La Garrotxa. This itinerary will take you inside the youngest volcano in the Iberian Peninsula.
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La Plana bathing pool. Route 3 Les Planes d'Hostoles
Les Planes d’Hostoles is well known for its natural bathing pools that have been used in numerous films and adverts. This is one of four suggestions.
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Rosemary route. Route 2 Maià de Montcal
This bicycle route is suitable for families with children, you will discover a rural landscape between fields and manors.
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Sant Feliu de Pallerols, Sant Marc and Puig Roig volcanoes. Natural Park route 22
Short itinerary that gives us the possibility of knowing the two volcanoes closest to Sant Feliu de Pallerols and at the same time further away from the central core of the Volcanic Zone of La Garrotxa.
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Sant Grau d'Entreperes to Sant Miquel de Monteia (from Sadernes)
This route will take you to two of the most emblematic Romanesque chapels in the Sierra de Entreperes, in the Alta Garrotxa.
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Sant Eudald de Jou route
Route around Montagut, where the first foothills of the Alta Garrotxa already offer some examples of the best Romanesque architecture in the area.
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Olot and its volcanoes
Rediscover nature in the heart of the city. The urban layout of Olot is set around one of the most famous volcanoes: Montsacopa.
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Vayreda’s Alta Garrotxa. Route 8 Garrotxa
Marian Vayreda’s novel La Punyalada provides one of the best ways of discovering the Alta Garrotxa. The places depicted by this 19th century author in the scenes from his famous novel have been joined in a discovery route.