Avià can be explored through a range of cultural and landscape themes: churches with distinctive architectural details, routes with their own focus, and traces of agricultural work. You can organise your discoveries around whether you would like to focus more on architectural history, traditional harvest customs or the landscape.
Churches and historical traces
The Hotel d’Entitats on Plaça Abat Oliba houses a permanent museum exhibition. It explains the development of the municipality from prehistoric times to the present day. Sant Martí d’Avià also provides a specific historical reference for the early period: the first church is believed to have been built by Count Guifré between 879 and 897. On 12 January 907, Bishop Nantigís of La Seu d’Urgell consecrated the church.
Several anthropomorphic tombs from the Romanesque period, carved into the rock, are located near Sant Vicenç d’Obiols. The church’s history also goes back a long way: from its origins as a parish church, Sant Vicenç d’Obiols belonged to the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll. Count Guifré donated the church to the monastery in 888.
Other churches display different architectural features. Sant Serni de Clarà is a single-nave Baroque church; the inscription “ANY 1630” appears on its door lintel. Santa Maria d’Avià has a double-arched bell gable. Its entrance on the south side consists of two semicircular arches with voussoirs. The terms describe different architectural features: single-nave refers to a church space with one nave, while a bell gable has arches for the bells.
An arch in Carrer Portal, part of the historic town centre, has survived from the medieval entrance gates. Its preserved form shows its former function as an entrance, while the inscription at Sant Serni links a specific architectural detail to a date. Those interested in architectural history can find both historical records and striking architectural forms here.
Routes by theme and mode of travel
The Ruta de les 3 esglésies links Avià’s three oldest churches. It can be completed on foot, by mountain bike or on horseback. The marked section is also described in relation to the GR1 long-distance footpath: it largely follows its course between Obiols and the Riera de Clarà.
The Ruta ramadera has a different focus. It links L’Espunyola, Avià, Olvan and Sagàs along a 32-kilometre route divided into three sections. It can also be completed on foot, on horseback or by mountain bike. The two routes therefore differ above all in their theme and the route details explicitly provided: one focuses on the three oldest churches, while the other specifies its length and number of sections.
AviART is an orientation route, partly urban, through Avià’s town centre and the La Creu neighbourhood. It focuses on public artworks that can be viewed along the route. It complements the church-focused route with a look at art in the town. Avià’s water route, in turn, draws attention to mills and other features from the municipality’s past.
Harvest customs and rural history
Avià’s land route tells the story of an area shaped by agriculture. According to the route’s narrative, the area has been used for agriculture from the Neolithic period to the present day. The landscape of the natural area of dels Tres Hereus includes forests and fields, mainly used to grow cereals. The natural area covers a total of 343.46 hectares, of which 35.96 hectares lie within the municipality of Avià.
The Festa del Segar i el Batre takes place on the second Sunday in July. The festival includes practical demonstrations of traditional harvesting work, as well as a craft market, a photography competition and a presentation of traditional activities. The Dansa del segar i el batre is also performed during the celebration; it is considered a distinctive feature of the festival. Those interested in agricultural heritage can experience demonstrations, the market and the dance as different aspects of the same celebration.
Landscape and traces of earlier work
Estany de Graugés is an artificial lake covering six hectares. Its depth ranges from two to 18 metres, and it is fed by water from the Riera d’Avià. Together with the fields and forests of dels Tres Hereus, it offers a different way to explore Avià’s themes than the churches and local history: here, the focus is on water, agricultural land and woodland.
The area’s industrial history can also be read in specific places. The former factory and colony of La Plana is described on an information panel at the roundabout at the entrance to the town. The open-air site lies directly behind the bridge and is easy to access. Among the ruins of Molí de Minoves, two La Ferté millstones, a hulling mill, a bread oven, a water channel, a sluice gate and a basin have been preserved. These remains offer insight into different aspects of the former use of the mill, without requiring a particular route or walk.
Discover more destinations: Manlleu, Sant Llorenç d'Hortons, Vilafranca Del Penedès, La Batllòria, Santa Margarida de Montbui, Mongat, Gurb, Sant Vicenç de Castellet
For the broader travel overview: Barcelona.
