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
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Experiences TOP
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The Romanesque churches of Maià de Montcal and Beuda
Maià de Montcal and Beuda are both good examples of La Garrotxa’s valuable cultural heritage and their wonderful Romanesque churches are the perfect excuse to visit this part of La Garrotxa.
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City-centre Olot shopping
On every street corner in Olot you’ll find a shop where you can buy exquisite local products, guaranteed to satisfy even the most demanding of palates, all prepared with top-quality products and the know-how of local cooks.
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Authentic Olot: The Museum of Saints
Olot has a long tradition of producing religious images. Today, the centre of this industry is located in one of Catalonia’s most singular museums, the Olot Museum of Saints.
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Saint James’ Way
The Saint James’ Way is one of Europe’s great cultural treasures and its waymarked route allows pilgrims (and others!) to visit on foot many of the country’s most important historical points of interest.
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Following the lava flows
Emitted by the local volcanoes, once solidified, the Fluvià and other local rivers In conjunction with the wind and rain have eroded the lava into spectacular cliffs at Castellfollit de la Roca and El Boscarró and Fontfreda in Sant Joan les Fonts.
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Villages with charm
Despite the multiple attractions – landscape, cuisine and its people – of La Garrotxa, there are some places in this comarca that have a truly unique air about them.
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Keeping cool in La Garrotxa
The intense summer heat is an incentive to search for places to cool off, places where you can rest and at the same time get to know some of the other delights of La Garrotxa.
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Jewish Besalú
Besalú oozes history from every corner: every street, square and building provides clues to the town’s past and the people that have lived there through the centuries.
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Olot and its volcanoes
The city of Olot spreads out around the base of one of La Garrotxa’s best known volcanoes –Montsacopa– and climbing its slopes is a perfect way to rediscover nature without actually leaving the city.
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Garrotxa Cultour
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Vayreda’s Alta 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.
