Opening hours MUSEUM OF SAINTS
Weekdays: 10am-1pm and 3pm-6pm
Saturdays: 11am-2pm and 4pm-7pm
Sundays and holidays: 11 am-2 pm
Closed Monday
Olot has a long tradition of artisanal production of imagery. Today, the epicenter of this artisanal industry is located in one of the most unique museums in all of Catalonia: the Museum of the Saints of Olot.
Entering the Museum of the Saints is like entering a workshop in full swing. You can see the workers modeling, polishing, painting and decorating the statuettes just as they do in their day-to-day lives.
The Museum of the Saints is located in the neo-Gothic building that housed El Arte Cristiano, the first religious imagery workshop, created in Olot in 1880.
The Museum aims to raise awareness of the industrial activity of producing religious images in Olot. The visit allows you to see the operation of a workshop, follow the production process and obtain historical information about this activity. It also brings together a collection of images of saints, Easter scenes, nativity scene figures, decorative figures, farandula and emblematic pieces from old workshops.
Located in a neo-Gothic building in the city center, the Museum of Saints of Olot shares space with the still active Christian Art religious imagery workshop, and shows the artisanal activity that takes place there. A visit to the museum, if done during the week, allows you to see a fully functioning workshop live, and how the craftsmen make the different figures. The tour of the museum coincides with the different phases of production of an image, starting with molding, following by retouching, painting and decoration.
The production of religious imagery, an initiative of Joaquim Vayreda, Josep Berga i Boix and Valentí Carrera, was a professional outlet for many of the students of the Olot Public Drawing School. The works produced in the Olot workshops can be seen all over the world.
The first floor of the Museum houses the permanent exhibition rooms, where you can see some examples of the pieces produced in different workshops, as well as a display of elements of the city’s fair, which was also made in the same workshops, standing out above all the new and old giants of Olot. It is also worth highlighting the area dedicated to nativity scenes, where figures of great artistic value are exhibited such as those modeled by Ramon Amadeu, or those that make up the Renart collection.
The writer Marian Vayreda lived in the building that today houses the museum, where the office where he conceived some of his works, such as “Records de la dardera carlinada” or “La punyalada”, names that have become references in literature written in Catalan, is still preserved – and can be visited.
– Audiovisual with audio description, subtitles, and interpretation in Catalan sign language.
– Easy reading material for visiting the permanent exhibition.
– “”touch me”” corners: pieces in different spaces that can be touched and played with to play discovery and identification games through touch.
– Activities in Catalan sign language.
· The process of making a saint, which can be seen live from Monday to Friday
· The original farandula of Olot
· The activities and workshops programmed by the Museum of Saints
· Escape room every first and third Saturday of the month, at 7:30 p.m., starting September 21, 2019.
The Garrotxa Museum houses many paintings and sculptures by landscape painting artists from the Olot School, who began the tradition of imagery in the city.
Olot has a long tradition of artisanal production of imagery. Throughout the city there were dozens of workshops that produced the pieces by hand, one by one.
Today, the epicenter of this artisanal industry is located in one of the most unique museums in all of Catalonia: the Museum of the Saints of Olot.
An Escape Room inside a real museum. Come alone or in a group and dare to leave this escape room by investigating among the rooms and corridors of the Museum.
Escape room hours: Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.
Reservations at museusants@olot.cat or 972 26 67 91 *Pre-booking is required.
The activity is for groups of between 5 and 6 people.
You can sign up individually or in smaller groups and you will join sessions with other people.
Recommended age: from 16 years old.
If you can't find it, ask us
© Turisme Garrotxa
