
History and architecture
Camprodon boasts a rich history, with an extensive collection of architectural works to be discovered. We highly recommend a tour of the architectural points of interest that chart the town’s development through the ages right up to the present day in order to discover the unique identity of this small, interesting, welcoming, Pyrenean town… Explore all of the town’s hidden gems!
The Casa de la Vila, home to the Camprodon Town Council, is representative of the civic Catalan Gothic style of architecture. The uniqueness of the town hall, characterised by its exceptional façade, has earned it the honour of being reproduced as part of Barcelona's Poble Espanyol architectural village.
+ INFOPlanning legislation passed by the Camprodon Town Council includes a plan to produce a list of a total of 240 buildings, which compiles information on the characteristics and features of each one, specifying relevant details, such as the name, location, year or period of construction, type, structure, roof materials, current use, state of conservation, existing services etc.
+ INFOThe Church of Santa Maria is a large fourteenth century Gothic-style parish church, finished with an angular apse and flanked by altars along each side.
+ INFOThe Monastery of Sant Pere is a Romanesque church built to form the shape of a Latin cross supported by three arches, with a central apse and octagonal dome, above which the square bell tower rests.
+ INFOThe Capella del Roure (Oak Chapel) is a small Romanesque chapel with a rectangular layout that was transferred to this new site stone by stone and consecrated by the Bishop of Vic on 8 September 2011.
+ INFOLocated in the Vila de Baix (lower town), this church, as its name implies, used to be a Carmelite convent. Its construction dates from the fourteenth century.
+ INFOThe Hermitage of Sant Antoni, located at the highest point of the village, was built in 1700 under the supervision of a Board of Trustees constituted by the rector, the abbot of Sant Pere and two consuls.
+ INFODue to the Camprodon's unique location as the first major town travellers came to from the Coll d'Ares pass, the decision was made to build a small hospital to care for the sick.
+ INFOEl Castell, also known as the Torre de Rellotge (Clock Tower), formed part of the fortifications built during the war period to protect the people of Camprodon.
+ INFOIsaac Albéniz Pascual, a famous composer and pianist born in Camprodon, was a child prodigy who gave his first piano performance at the age of four at the Romea Theatre in Barcelona in 1864.
+ INFOConsidered one of the best residential civic architecture examples of Camprodon's modern era, Cal Marquès is a large building erected in 1620 by Pere Ribes, the owner of a forge in Setcases.
+ INFOKnown locally as the 'El Prat' square in reference to the area’s original name, El Prat del Molí (Mill’s Meadow).
+ INFO"On 5 October 1794, the French killed Pau Pujol, wool merchant, on the other side of the Ter, for defending the faith and his homeland" That is the inscription on the stone monolith which stands as a memorial of the execution of Pau Pujol by French troops in reprisal for a military attack because he had opposed the occupying regime.
+ INFORomanesque art, the predominant style of many architectural works built during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, has left its imprint as a major influence in many of the buildings in Camprodon and the surrounding Valley. In an artistic, rural setting, Romanesque art is characterised by depicting the essence of something rather than its beauty. With the Church as one of its most representative buildings, it frequently focused on religious themes, with thick walls, arches and wide columns some of the movement’s most distinctive elements.
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