The best dog-friendly hikes and walks around Ripolles

S eleva uns metres per sobre de Vilallonga, donant vistes al mateix poble i a la muntanya de Tregurá. Al mirador i a la Capella l envolten tot de figures metàliques d un autor local.

Sant ESTEVE, or Saint Stephen, patron saint of this church in Llanars, is one of the first seven deacons of the original Jerusalem community and, as the New Testament reports, is the first martyr (martyr) of early Christianity. The church commemorates his death on the second day of Christmas, December 26th. When Stephen expressed his vision of the open heavens, "But he, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God" (Acts chapter 7 verse 55), the people were so outraged that they drove him out of the city and stoned him.

I shot through this town but what I saw looks good!

«Building built in the 12th century, to which the side chapels and the sacristy were later added. The building has a single nave, covered with a pointed barrel vault, and culminated with an apse, offset from the central axis. The walls, both outside and inside, present differences in the type of stone used and the decoration. The façade has a doorway that, although more discreet, is reminiscent of that of Sant Cristòfol de Beget; Four corbels can be seen that would indicate the presence of a cover to protect the entrance in a past time. The bell tower has a square tower with a pyramidal roof but was originally made of belfry. We also highlight the door hardware. The most interesting element inside the church is the front of the wooden altar, the only one in the region that is preserved in the place where it was created. The stocked background is very notable, rare in Romanesque altars. The Pantocrator is represented, surrounded by the mystical almond and the symbols of the evangelists. On both sides we can see the episodes of the life of Sant Esteve: the deacon ordination and the stoning, and on the right, the moment in which the place where he was buried and the location of the tomb are revealed.

Llanars is the precise example of a rural landscape model surrounded by the Ter and Ribera de Feitús rivers, in the middle of the mountains and within the Camprodon valley. This town, which had had livestock farming as a fundamental activity, is now a quiet tourist place, open and sunny, ideal for resting and forgetting stress. The small medieval town, with the Romanesque church of Sant Esteve (12th century), is the most remarkable place from an architectural point of view. Hiking and mountain sports are the active alternative.

It is a good picnic area next to the river and in the middle of the forest

Easy path access, only the positive slope can cause some problems if you are a person with little experience. Good view and absolute peace. Puig de les Agudes is a mountain of 1,976 meters that is located between the municipalities of Llanars, Setcases and Vilallonga de Ter, in the Catalan region of Ripollès. At the top is geodetic vertex number 293079001. This peak is included in the Challenge of the 100 peaks of the Federation of Excursionist Organizations of Catalonia (FEEC).

bring water