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
-
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.
-
Montsacopa and Montolivet volcanoes. Route 3 Olot
This route visits two of Olot’s most remarkable volcanoes, Montsacopa and Montolivet.
-
Sant Feliu - coll d'Úria - La Salut. Natural Park route 28
Itinerary for the Health Shadow, with a significant drop, but with a reward in the form of panoramic views over the Brugent river valley and much of the Natural Park.
-
Memories of the last Carlist War
This route visits some of the sites in La Garrotxa that are indelibly associated with the Third Carline War (1872–1876).
-
Molí dels Murris bathing pool. Route 4 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.
-
GR 11 - Cross-Pyrenean trail
This route follows the southern flank of the Pyrenees from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean. Difficult high-altitude sections give way to peaks, valleys, villages, forests and ridges in a varied landscape of great visual beauty.
-
River route. Route 4 Argelaguer
Route to the wildlife watching hide, with a little luckyou will see birds such as Mallard , Grey Heron and Little Egret . The lucky few might just catch a glimpse of an Otter , reintroduced into the basing of the river Fluvià at the end of the 1990s.
-
Saint James's way
The St James’ Way runs through the county of La Garrotxa and visits en route a number of interesting sites.
-
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.
-
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.