Garrigoles – Romanesque Architecture, Landscape and Hiking Trails

Culture and Architectural History

The Church of Sant Sadurní de Garrigoles is a Romanesque church dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. Its layout has a single nave; the apse is semicircular and lower in height. In 1185, the Bishop of Girona transferred the church to the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Art and Events

In an area of 850 m², the Fundació Rodríguez-Amat presents a retrospective featuring more than 400 works by this contemporary artist. The Casa-Taller of the Fundació Rodríguez-Amat is located on the village square of Les Olives. The auditorium of the Fundació hosts concerts, poetry readings, panel discussions and meetings of artists and cultural professionals.

Other Historic Places

The Pou del petroli (aigua calenta) is one of Garrigoles' sights and is classified as a civil structure. Mas Garrigoles is located on the south side of the church. The building dates from the 16th and 17th centuries; its round-arched portal with large voussoirs is particularly striking. The Church of Sant Vicenç de Les Olives is a small, late Romanesque church of Cistercian type. Can Ros de les Olives is an 18th-century manor house. It was the ancestral home of one of the comarca's important landowning families.

Landscape and Village Centre

The municipal area of Garrigoles consists of hilly terrain with rounded elevations. It lies between the catchment areas of the Ter and Fluvià rivers. Garrigoles has areas of Aleppo pine woodland as well as dry-farmed cereal fields. These are supplemented by fodder and maize cultivation, olive groves and individual vineyards. The village centre of Garrigoles consists of a small group of houses around the parish church. The surroundings have the character of a road's end and are quiet.

Hiking and Access

A quiet local road leads uphill from Verges to Garrigoles and Les Olives. The GIV-6311 road forms part of the approach associated with the hiking route to the area around Puig Segalar. It is narrow in places. The Ruta 140 is a morning hiking route. It leads from Garrigoles to the summit of Puig Segalar. The morning designation of the Ruta 140 provides a direct indication of timing for planning the day. A short stretch of dirt track leads to the front of the Church of Garrigoles, where a few vehicles can park; when arriving by car, the very limited parking available in the small village centre must be taken into account. On the Plaça Major of Garrigoles, next to the church just a few metres away, there is an information board bearing the inscription “Itineraris del Puig Segalar”.

The morning route, the narrow GIV-6311 and the limited parking mark three distinct practical aspects of the same place: the temporal character of the hike, the condition of part of the access road and the limited parking situation in the centre. The board on the Plaça Major explicitly mentions Puig Segalar and complements the route description with a visible reference point for the start of the route.

Other places:

Molló, Campelles, Colera, Roses, Vilabertran, Bàscara, Mieres, Cadaqués

For the higher-level travel overview: Girona.