SANT ESTEVE CHURCH
Come and discover the majestic Sant Esteve Church - the largest church in Olot - with its arresting façade and the bell tower that dominates Olot’s skyline.
The current façade dates back to the year 1800, and features three niches that used to house stone sculptures of Saint Steve (the church’s namesake), Saint Valentine and Saint Sabina. Inside the nave, you will find the magnificent Baroque Our Lady of the Rosary altarpiece created by the sculptor Pau Costa; the alabaster sculpture of Saint Steve that adorns the high altar, created by Josep Clarà, and a figure of Christ by Ramon Amadeu. In addition, the church also houses the Parochial Treasury Museum, where you can admire a valuable El Greco painting: Christ Embracing the Cross.
THE TURA SANCTUARY
The earliest information about the Church of Santa Maria del Tura dates back to 872. Throughout its history it has passed through various constructive stages that go from the Romanesque, the Gothic, (of which there are a few remains, such as a wall, the remains of a bell tower and a voussoir door), down to the Neoclassical period. The last version of the church, restored after the burning of the sanctuary (1936), was built in the 18th century and it is framed within the Neoclassical style, with baroque reminiscences in the precepts of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The façade is baroque style, renovated in the 1920s. Inside, it conserves the Romanesque, polychrome image of the Virgin Mary of Tura, dating back to the 12th century, baroque sculptures by the artist Ramón Amadeu and a collection of embroidered dresses of the Church's Virgin Mary (17th - 20th century). The church’s entire interior decoration is by Joan Carles Panyó, one of the best Catalan Neoclassical artists.
Nowadays, the sanctuary is one of the few completely decorated churches in the diocese of Girona. It has also great historical importance since the city of Olot was founded around the Tura church and for years, in the 16th century, it was used as the meeting place for the Magistrates of the Council of Olot.
It is a tourist experience that includes three guided tours: the church of Sant Esteve, the Tura sanctuary and the Museum of the Saints and also offers the possibility of booking accommodation and catering
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