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 Noucentist “garden city” movement that took hold in the early 20th century.
The project was developed by Manuel Malagrida i Fontanet, an Olot native who had made a fortune in the Spanish colonies of the Americas. Upon his return to his hometown, Malagrida decided to launch an urban redevelopment project by constructing a “city” surrounded by gardens and large buildings. He chose the wetlands area, known as El Pla dels Llacs, as the site for his project.
The project was designed by Joan Roca i Pinet and Josep Esteve, and in 1927 Malagrida himself inaugurated the development in the presence of King Alfonso XII. The development consisted of a radial city plan, whose streets spread out in the form of spokes from the Plaça d’Espanya and Plaça d’Amèrica, which were joined together by the Columbus Bridge which crossed the River Fluvià.
Two of the development’s most notable buildings are the Casa Masramon, designed by the architect Rafel Masó, and the Torre Malagrida, now home to Olot’s youth hostel. The development also featured the Biblioteca Popular, a Noucentist building run by the Mancomunitat of Catalonia*, which unfortunately no longer stands.
*a voluntary-run confederation for the Catalan commissions of Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona and Lleida.
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 Mare de Déu de Tura Church is highly significant to the city of Olot. Its origins can be traced back to the 9th century, and over its lifetime the building has been reconstructed and reformed several times, while also managing to withstand a great deal of adversity.
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