Ordis combines a strong connection to its landscape with a village whose history can be read across several centuries: on clear days, the Pyrenees are clearly visible from here. Narrow streets and buildings from different periods add further character to the village. When planning your trip, it is worth distinguishing the village buildings from the temples in the surrounding area, and treating recurring festival and pilgrimage dates separately.
Village and landscape
The village of Ordis forms a compact cluster of narrow streets. Its historic buildings include structures dating from the 16th to the 18th century; decorative openings and dated lintels add to the village’s character. Ordis is therefore more than a collection of individual churches and chapels: its street layout and architectural details are also part of its building history. On clear days, views of the Pyrenees add another dimension to the landscape.
Romanesque architecture and building history
Art historians date the Església de Sant Julià i Santa Basilissa to the period between the 12th and 13th centuries, the heyday of the Romanesque style. This dating points to a particular stylistic period, while other buildings in the surrounding area are associated with later centuries. Ordis’s building history therefore cannot be reduced to a single period.
The Capella de Santa Caterina is a 15th-century building next to the former Hospital d’Ordis. Its distinctive architectural feature is a set of four pointed transverse arches. They originally supported a wooden roof, so their form and function can be considered together. The Hospital de Santa Caterina is another Gothic building. It was probably built in the 14th century or the early 15th century. This cautious dating is part of its place in the local building history.
Temples in the surrounding area
The Ermita de Sant Nicolau is a 12th-century Romanesque temple located about two kilometres from the village of Ordis. Santa Maria de Pols stands approximately 500 metres north of the hamlet of Ordis. This small single-nave temple has a semicircular apse and was built in the late 15th or early 16th century. The comparison reveals a clear difference in age between the Romanesque Sant Nicolau and the later building of Santa Maria de Pols. Their descriptions also differ: the former is defined by its Romanesque style, while the latter is characterised by its single-nave layout and apse.
Fira de l’Ordi and pilgrimages
The annual Fira de l’Ordi celebrates barley with a day combining history, gastronomy, family activities and agricultural education. One edition took place on 18 May 2025. If you would like to plan your trip around the festival, check the date of the relevant edition rather than treating the date of a past festival as a future event date.
Santa Maria de Pols is also associated with recurring pilgrimage dates: a pilgrimage takes place on the Sunday near 8 September and on 2 February. These two dates provide a different guide for planning a trip from the annual barley fair. For specific travel plans, check the dates for the period of your visit.
Walking and road connections
The surrounding area has easy walking routes connecting Ordis with neighbouring towns such as Vilanant and Pontós. This offers two different ways to explore the area: the village’s building history and the routes between towns.
A local road runs through Ordis, connecting the N-II with the N-260. The N-II runs from Barcelona via La Jonquera to France; the N-260 runs from Figueres to Olot and touches the northwestern tip of the municipal area. For orientation, it is important to distinguish between the two roads: the connection through Ordis and the course of the N-260 within the municipal area are not the same. Together with the village and landscape features described above, this gives a concrete picture of the different aspects that can make a trip to Ordis special.
Discover more destinations: Fontcoberta, Les Llosses, Setcases, Roses, Guils De Cerdanya, Figueres, UllĂ , Cabanes.
For the broader travel guide: Girona.
