Discover Avià: churches, cultural routes and landscapes

Avià brings together local history, cultural routes and a landscape shaped by agriculture. When planning your trip, you can decide whether to focus on churches and historical traces, routes exploring different themes, or natural features.

Churches and historical traces

The Hotel d’Entitats, on Plaça Abat Oliba, houses a permanent museographic exhibition. It explains the development of the municipality from prehistoric times to the present day. Avià’s churches also tell the story of different periods: the construction of the first church of Sant Martí d’Avià is attributed to Count Guifré, between 879 and 897. Bishop Nantigís of La Seu d’Urgell consecrated it on 12 January 907.

Sant Serni de Clarà is a Baroque single-nave church. The inscription “ANY 1630” appears on its door lintel. Santa Maria d’Avià has different architectural features: the church has a two-arched bell gable, and its southern entrance consists of two semicircular arches with voussoirs. At Sant Vicenç d’Obiols, several anthropomorphic tombs carved into the rock date from the Romanesque period. Since its origins, the church had served as a parish church belonging to the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll. Count Guifré gave it to the monastery in 888.

Architectural traces also remain in the historic town centre. On Carrer Portal, an arch stands as part of the former medieval entrance gates. The former La Plana factory and workers’ colony is described on an information panel at the roundabout at the entrance to the town. The open-air site lies just beyond the bridge and is easy to access.

Routes with different themes

The Ruta de les 3 esglésies connects Avià’s three oldest churches. It can be done on foot, by mountain bike or on horseback. Its marked section largely follows the GR1 long-distance trail between Obiols and the Riera de Clarà. This route focuses on religious heritage, and the marked section is described as running between two named points.

Other routes explore different sides of the municipality. On Avià’s Water Route, you can discover mills and other features that are part of the municipality’s past. The Earth Route tells the story of an area shaped by agriculture, including the account of agricultural use that has continued from the Neolithic period to the present day. AviART is an exploratory, semi-urban route through the centre of Avià and the La Creu neighbourhood. Along it, you can view works of art in public spaces.

The Ruta ramadera offers a different kind of route: it connects L’Espunyola, Avià, Olvan and Sagàs over 32 kilometres, divided into three sections. You can travel it on foot, on horseback or by mountain bike. The options therefore differ not only in theme—such as churches, agricultural history or art—but also in their stated distances and modes of travel.

Landscape and festival tradition

Estany de Graugés is an artificial lake covering six hectares. It is between two and 18 metres deep and is fed by water from the Riera d’Avià. In the natural area of dels Tres Hereus, forests alternate with fields used mainly for growing grain. The natural area covers 343.46 hectares in total, of which 35.96 hectares lie within the municipality of Avià.

The Festa del Segar i el Batre is also part of the area’s cultural identity. It combines demonstrations of traditional harvesting work with a craft market, a photography competition and presentations of traditional activities. The Dansa del segar i el batre is performed during the festival and is considered a distinctive feature of the celebration. The festival takes place on the second Sunday in July. If you plan your trip around it, check the date for the relevant year.

Discover more destinations: Saldes, Castellar Del Riu, Mataró, Les Masuques, Castellolí, La Floresta, Sant Llorenç d'Hortons, Pineda De Mar.

For the broader travel overview: Barcelona.