Autumn in La Garrotxa: Besalú, Castellfollit and Sant Joan de les Fonts

• Past Excursions

DATE: October 30 at 8am

Enjoy a complete excursion to the region of La Garrotxa (Girona) that will allow us to visit three of the most beautiful medieval villages in the area: Besalú, Castellfollit de la Roca and Sant Joan de les Fonts. And we will also visit the curious set of hanging huts built by the artist Josep Pujiula, known as the tarzan of Argelaguer.

– BESALÚ

The village of Besalú, located at an important and traditional crossroads east of the Garrotxa, was a fortress between two rivers: the Fluvià to the south and the Capellades to the north. For several centuries Besalú was the seat of an important independent county and has a formidable medieval historical-artistic ensemble, one of the best preserved in Catalonia. This ensemble includes the old church of the monastery of Sant Pere from the 12th century; the church of Sant Vicenç from the 12th century; the façade of the old church of the hospital of Sant Julià from the 12th century; the house of Cornellà, a Romanesque monument from the 12th century and the Gothic hall of the Royal Cúria. It also highlights the old Jewish quarter and its Miqvé or ritual bathhouse, which is, along with that of Girona, the only Jewish bathhouse enclosure discovered so far in the Iberian Peninsula. Not to mention the majestic Romanesque bridge over the Fluvià river.

– CASTELLFOLLIT DE LA ROCA

The spectacular location of Castelfollit makes it a magnificent natural viewpoint from which you can contemplate the valleys of the rivers Fluvià and Toronell. The municipality is also the gateway to one of the most important green spaces in Catalonia: the natural park of the volcanic area of La Garrotxa. On top of an immense basaltic cliff, the silhouette of the village of Castellfollit is drawn, with the houses touching the edge of the cliff and the bell tower of the church of Sant Salvador (13th century). This is one of the most captured and painted images of the country.

– SANT JOAN DE LES FONTS

Thousands of years ago, the volcanoes of La Canya and Aiguanegra expelled a great mantle of lava that formed an immense basalt cliff, on which two small villages, Castellfollit de la Roca and Sant Joan les Fonts, rise today. Located to the south of this thick volcanic rock, at the confluence of the Rambla de Bianya and the Fluvià river, the municipality includes numerous historical and medieval monuments, such as the monastery of Sant Joan, the Medieval bridge or the Juvinyà house.

If the weather forecast is bad or the situation generated by the Covid19 prevents us, the excursion will be postponed.

DATES: October 30, 2021

ACCOMPANYING GUIDE: Toni Bellido