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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GR 83 - Camí del Nord o del Canigó
This route provides links Mataró and Prada de Conflent and the peak of El Canigó. It runs through attractive landscapes in El Montseny, Les Guilleries and La Garrotxa, and includes sections involving considerable climbs once it reaches the Pyrenees.
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La Devesa and Caxurma caves. Route 1 Montagut i Oix
Baumes de Caxurma are a series of natural caves formed in the sedimentary rocks that lie to the south of the basalt cliffs of Castellfollit de la Roca. The largest cave is around 400 m in length.
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Three Lava Flows Route - Basalt Cliffs. Natural Park route 16
Through this itinerary we can see a long basaltic cliff while we walk through an area with shadows, fresh and pleasant.
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Grau d'Escales route. Route 2 Montagut i Oix
Grau d'Escales is a relatively easy pass (grau = ‘pass’ and escala = ‘step’ in Catalan) between two abrupt cliffs from where there are good views of the Salt dels Lliberals (Liberal’s Leap).
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Healthy itinerary Sant Ferriol short hike
This route will take us through a mosaic of landscapes formed by fields and holm oak forests, in Sant Ferriol, right next to Besalú.
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El Mont. Route 4 Consorci Alta Garrotxa
Demanding route through the summits that surround the Mare de Déu del Mont, with panoramic views of much of the Garrotxa and the Alt Empordà.
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Bosc de Can Serra route. Route 6 LesPreses
An intimate route to connect with nature.
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El Mont from Segueró route. Ruta 4 Beuda
Route of 6.4 km the church of the Sanctuary of late Romanesque style, from the beginning of the 14th century.
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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.
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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.