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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Routes and excursions TOP
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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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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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Brugent bathing pool route in Sant Feliu de Pallerols
Upstream of Les Planes d'Hostoles, the river Brugent leaves, as it passes through Sant Feliu de Pallerols, a series of bathing pools, all of them located a few meters from the Carrilet greenway.
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La Vall de Bianya cycle lane. Route 6 Vall dels Sentits
Through this greenway we can go, pedaling or on foot, from Llocalou to Hostalnou de Bianya, passing through fields and pastures.
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Els Comuns. Route 1 Tortellà
The route takes us to the Comuns quarry, a stone extraction site that used to build the Olot motorway to Besalú. The mining activity was stopped in 2010 and is currently under restoration.
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The charcoal makers and bac route. Route 3 Mieres
This route is an agreeable stroll through the shady woods of Clot Mal, a stream that runs down from the western side of the slopes around the church of Freixe.
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Xenacs via volcano Racó and puig Rodó viewpoint. Route 1 Les Preses
The recreational area of Xenacs in Les Preses provides an atypical view of La Garrotxa and is one of the best places anywhere for getting a bird’seye view of Croscat and the other volcanoes in the area. As well, its height makes it an ideal place.
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Sant Grau d'Entreperes to Sant Miquel de Monteia (from Sales)
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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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.