The Museum of the Saints in Olot is a unique space that allows us to delve into the city’s rich history of religious imagery production. In addition, part of this cultural space’s itinerary is also dedicated to the promotion of other crafts, and aspects of popular and traditional culture such as the creation of nativity scenes. The Museum of the Saints, which is a designated Site of Local Cultural Interest, is located within a 19th-century Neogothic building built in a rectangular style.
The building that houses the museum is the former home of the writer and artisan Marian Vayreda, who founded Olot’s first religious imagery workshop along with his brother, Joaquim, and Josep Berga i Boix. By exploring the different rooms of the museum, visitors can learn about the whole process of designing and creating cult figures, from the initial moulds right through to their final decoration. In addition, there is also a large exhibition dedicated to Olot’s pessebrista tradition - which refers to the art of creating nativity displays.
The Museum of the Saints, however, boasts much more than just religious imagery. The space also offers a glimpse of an Olot-style faràdula - the troupe of folkloric characters that make their appearance during traditional festivals and events - with giants, capgrossos (“big-heads”) and other festive artefacts that form part of this rich, cultural tradition. The museum also allows the visitor to discover the life and work of Marian Vayreda, the author of the novel La Punyalada, which forms part of the Catalan literary canon.
In short, the Museum of the Saints of a must-see cultural space for anyone interested in the history, crafts and popular culture of Catalonia.
Weekdays: 10:00-13:00 and 15:00-18:00
Saturdays: 11:00-14:00 and 16:00-19:00
Sundays and Bank Holidays: 11:00-14:00
Visit the Trincheria House Museum, one of the most important ancestral homes in Olot, located at no. 29, Carrer de Sant Esteve. The house-museum is quintessential of how a well-off family lived in the first half of the 18th-century.
The Cloister of the former Carmen Convent in Olot, located at no. 3, Carrer Padre Antoni Soler, is a formation of impressive Renaissance galleries that is of the most unique and symmetrical in the whole of Catalonia.
The Malagrida neighbourhood (L’Eixample Malagrida in Catalan) is the most emblematic urban treasure in Olot. Built between 1916 and 1925, it is an example of the Noucentista “garden city” movement that took hold in the early 20th century.