Ordis: Romanesque Architecture, Chapels and Holiday Apartments

From Ordis, the Pyrenees are clearly visible on clear days. The village of Ordis forms a compact group of narrow streets; its buildings include structures dating from the 16th to the 18th century, as well as decorated openings and dated door lintels.

The compact layout of the village and its preserved architectural features are closely connected: between the narrow streets are buildings that reveal different construction periods and details. Decorated openings and dated door lintels add specific architectural details to the villagescape, rather than providing only a general historical classification.

Culture

Art-historical dating places the Església de Sant Julià i Santa Basilissa between the 12th and 13th centuries, during the heyday of the Romanesque period. The Capella de Santa Caterina is a 15th-century building next to the former Hospital d’Ordis. Its construction includes four pointed transverse arches, which originally supported a wooden roof.

The chapel is therefore connected to its location beside the former hospital by a clearly recognizable architectural feature: the four pointed transverse arches indicate the original construction with a wooden roof. The Hospital de Santa Caterina is a Gothic building that was probably erected in the 14th or early 15th century.

The Ermita de Sant Nicolau is a Romanesque temple from the 12th century, located about 2 km from the village of Ordis. About 500 m north of the hamlet of Ordis stands Santa Maria de Pols, a small single-nave temple with a semicircular apse, built at the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century.

The area around Ordis therefore contains religious buildings from different periods: the Romanesque Església de Sant Julià i Santa Basilissa and the Ermita de Sant Nicolau stand alongside the Gothic and late-medieval architectural history of Santa Caterina and Santa Maria de Pols.

Festivals

The annual Fira de l’Ordi in Ordis celebrates barley with a day combining history, gastronomy, family activities and agricultural education. A pilgrimage takes place at Santa Maria de Pols on the Sunday close to 8 September and on 2 February.

The two dates at Santa Maria de Pols thus fall in different seasons, while the Fira de l’Ordi brings together history, gastronomy, family activities and agricultural education as an annual event.

Connections

A local road runs through Ordis. It connects the N-II, which leads from Barcelona via La Jonquera to France, with the N-260 from Figueres to Olot. The N-260 touches the northwestern tip of the municipal area.

There are routes for easy hiking in the area around Ordis, connecting Ordis with neighboring places such as Vilanant and Pontós. These connections to nearby places complement the compact village layout with trails in the surrounding area, while the roads mentioned place Ordis between the N-II and N-260.

Other Places

Other places: Santa Coloma De Farnés, Llanars, Pals, Sant Climent Sescebes, La Jonquera, Urús, Flaçà, Vilamacolum

To the main travel overview: Girona.