Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Amer

What to see and do in Amer (Selva, Girona): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 4 Monuments · 1 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Amer

Towns near Amer

Spain › Catalonia › Girona › Selva › Amer

What to see and do in Amer

Amer
Village
Amer is a town in the Selva, in Girona, on the banks of the river Brugent, on the border with the Garrotxa and the Gironès, with 2,422 inhabitants (INE 2025) and its former Benedictine monastery. The territory has been settled since ancient times: on the crags of Sant Roc there is an Upper Palaeolithic site, and on the summit of Puiggalí, between the valleys of the Ter, the Llémena and the Brugent, the remains of an Iberian settlement and a Roman watchtower from the 2nd-1st centuries BC. The town grew up around its weekly market, documented as early as the 12th century, and in the 18th century it expanded around the main square with cobbled streets in the Girona style. In 1427 it suffered an earthquake, and in 1926 the San Ramón floods swept away its bridges and altered the course of the Brugent.
Old Town of Amer
Monument
The historic centre of Amer, declared a historic ensemble of national interest, at the northern end of the Selva comarca, on the right bank of the river Brugent. It is arranged around the former Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria d'Amer, founded in 949, whose church, now the parish church, is preserved along with former monastic buildings converted into houses. The Plaça Major presides over the town, known as the Plaça Porxada, the second-largest arcaded square in Catalonia, whose present appearance is due mainly to the 18th century. The life of the monastery continued until the disentailment of 1835-1837. The 1427 earthquake damaged some eighty buildings in the town, and in the 17th century an epidemic and the plundering of French armies also marked its history.
Castle of Estela
Monument
The castle of Estela crowns the serrat de la Serra ridge, above the Saleres Velles, between the Ter basin and the valley of the Brugent river, in the municipality of Amer, in the Selva; together with the monastery of Amer, it is one of the town's historical landmarks. Its position dominated the Ter's outlet towards the plains of the Selva and the Gironès and protected the settlements of Amer, la Cellera de Ter and Anglès, more as a watchpost than as a great fortress. It is documented since 1080, with rights exercised by the Montcada and Soler families between the 12th and 14th centuries and later by the Roca-Salva lineage. Of the construction there remain the foundations of a rectangular tower five by six metres and several minor terraces; it was abandoned after the earthquakes of the 15th century, with the greatest damage in that of 1428.
Santa Brígida d'Amer
Monument
This 11th-century hermitage, dependent on the monastery of Amer and rebuilt in the 17th century after suffering damage, probably from the earthquakes of 1427, stands isolated atop a crag overlooking the valley of Amer. Formed by a rectangular building with a semicircular apse to which a three-storey block was attached, the main facade preserves a bell-gable with the Marieta bell and, on the east side, remains of a sundial painted in red and white. Beside it is a spring known as Sant Bernat. Every first Sunday of February, the people of Amer hold an aplec here with the goigs of the saint, sardanas and the rocs de Santa Brígida, biscuits from the local bakeries. Since 1972 it has been organised by the Esquelles group, which restored the hermitage in 2001.
Tower of Roca-salva
Monument
Also called the casa forta de Roca-salva or tower of Sant Climent, documented since the year 949, it stands on the slope of the puig Galí, above the Amer plain, with excellent visibility over the plain of Sant Climent and the Pasteral, which confirms its historic function of territorial surveillance. The circular tower, preserved intact, 16 metres high and 3 metres in exterior diameter, built of local limestone, dates from the 13th century, while the adjoining rectangular block was remodelled in the 17th, 19th and 21st centuries; it preserves a large voussoired doorway with a wooden access stairway and two chains, of medieval theatrical appearance. It belonged to the Roca-salva lineage, which through marriage passed it to the Soler family, also lords of the castle of Estela.
The consecration of the monastery of Santa Maria d'Amer
Historical milestone
The consecration of the Benedictine monastery beside the Brugent shaped the village's development for centuries; the abbots exercised lordship over the valley until the disentailment of 1835, which put an end to their power.