Logbook · 5 places

What to see and do in Argelaguer

What to see and do in Argelaguer (Garrotxa, Girona): 5 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 4 Monuments

How far each place is from the centre of Argelaguer

Towns near Argelaguer

What to see in Tortellà 2.5 km · 3 places
What to see in Sales de Llierca 2.5 km · 2 places
What to see in Sant Jaume de Llierca 2.8 km · 2 places
What to see in Montagut i Oix 4.2 km · 8 places
What to see in Besalú 5 km · 16 places
What to see in Beuda 6.2 km · 5 places
What to see in Sant Ferriol 6.4 km · 2 places
What to see in Castellfollit de la Roca 7.5 km · 4 places

Spain › Catalonia › Girona › Garrotxa › Argelaguer

What to see and do in Argelaguer

Argelaguer
Village
Argelaguer is a municipality in the Garrotxa, next to Besalú, situated on the left bank of the Fluvià, with 468 inhabitants. The lords of Sales handed over the village's fief to the Montpalau family in the early 13th century, already documented in 982 as Argelagorios. Its economy combines dryland farming of cereals and olives with poplar woods, hydroelectric industry and traditional craftwork making espadrilles and clogs. The castle, a Gothic-Renaissance mansion from the mid-15th century and a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (one of the highest levels of heritage protection in Catalonia), was the residence of the Montpalau family until the mid-17th century, after they abandoned their earlier nearby castle. The village celebrates its main festival on 11 December, the feast of Pope Damasus, to whom local tradition attributes an origin in Argelaguer.
Castle of Argelaguer
Monument
The castell d'Argelaguer is a Gothic-Renaissance palace-house in the village of Argelaguer (la Garrotxa, Girona), declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (one of the highest levels of heritage protection in Catalonia). Its origins date back to the early 15th century, when the Montpalau family built it after abandoning their earlier stronghold at Sant Jaume de Llierca; the lordship had been granted to them as a fief in 1212. Renovated in the 16th century, it was inhabited by the family until 1632, when they moved to Barcelona. Rectangular in plan and three storeys high, it preserves an austere facade with squared ashlar at the corners and three heraldic shields of the Marcó, Montpalau and Onés families; it was formerly surrounded by walls and moats, now gone. It survives intact and is still inhabited.
Castle of Montpalau i capella de Santa Magdalena
Monument
The chapel of Santa Magdalena de Montpalau, protected as part of the Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) of Montpalau Castle, stands in the municipality of Argelaguer (Garrotxa). It is a single-nave building with a semicircular apse, covered by a two-pitched tile roof, with a voussoired doorway topped by a recently restored bell-gable. The castle, built by the lords of Sales in the 12th century on a site already documented in 940, saw the construction of the chapel in the late 12th or early 13th century: its consecration, as Santa Magdalena de Montepaladio, was carried out by the Bishop of Girona in 1228. Both castle and chapel were badly damaged by the earthquakes of 1428 and were abandoned when the Montpalau family moved to Argelaguer Castle.
Santa Anna d'Argelaguer
Monument
The chapel of Santa Anna d'Argelaguer stands at the eastern exit of the town centre of Argelaguer. It has a single nave covered by a barrel vault and a semicircular apse facing east, with no openings; on the south side a window opens, and at the west end a farmhouse annex is attached to it. The entrance door, on the west side, is voussoired, and on its wood can be read the inscription "ME FESIS AÑ 1848", probably from a reconstruction prior to the 1975 restoration carried out by the villagers. The main altar and the rest of the furnishings are made with elements from an old oil press; despite its Romanesque plan and ashlar, the chapel has gone unnoticed throughout history for lack of documentary record of its past.
Santa Maria d'Argelaguer
Monument
The church of Santa Maria d'Argelaguer (la Garrotxa) is included in the Inventory of Architectural Heritage of Catalonia and protected as a Cultural Property of Local Interest. It is first mentioned in a lawsuit of 1004 at the castle of Besalú, in which the bishop of Girona, Odó, claimed it from Count Bernat Tallaferro. It is of Romanesque origin, rebuilt in the 12th and 13th centuries, with later alterations from the 16th to the 18th centuries that conceal much of the original 11th-century structure: from the bell tower the apse can be seen, with remains of Lombard arches. The sacristy, added on the south side, was finished in 1571, and the main door was completed in 1573. The cornerstones of the west facade bear the date 1643, and those of the bell tower, that of 1759. The earthquakes of 1427-1428 forced a thorough renovation in the 15th century.