The Torre del Rellotge and Plaça de Sant Roc

A tower built on a promise

The Torre del Rellotge, the clock tower, stands on Plaça de Sant Roc, beside the old Girona–Olot road. The Natural Park leaflet describes it from bottom to top: at the base, a fountain; halfway up, the figure of Sant Roc, the patron saint; at the top, the bell, hung from an iron frame. The town council's inventory adds the municipal coat of arms and the clock.

Its origins are unusual. According to the town council, much of the funding was made possible by Lluís Pons i Tusquets, a member of the Spanish parliament (the Cortes), who in 1919 had promised to build it if the village voted for him. Permits were requested on 13 June 1924, the plans were drawn up by Ramon Gusiñer Heras, from Banyoles, and work began in August 1924 and was finished in mid-1925. It cost 4,499 pesetas.

The figure of Sant Roc is older: it is dated 1885 and commemorates a cholera epidemic. Every 16 August a small festival is held in his honour.

The houses on the square and along the road

Before heading into the old town, it's worth looking around. The town council includes several buildings in this area in its heritage inventory:

• Ca la Paula. It has been an inn, restaurant and bar since 1870. Its façade, on the old Girona–Olot road, has balconies on stucco brackets, diamonds of green glazed ceramic and, under the eaves, a chequered band of blue and white ceramic.
• Vila Margarita. A house with a salmon-coloured façade, on the same road, with three large segmental-arched doorways on the ground floor; the central one is dated 1865, and the wavy parapet carries the date 1911 and the name of the house.
• Can Gussinyer. On a bend in the road, at the entrance to the village. The lintel bears the date 1681, and the door still shows bullet marks from a skirmish in April 1872, during the Third Carlist War.

From here

The square is the natural starting point for crossing the old town along Carrer Major to the old church and the viewpoint. If you're arriving by bus, the stop is on the village's main road; we explain this in getting there. And if you want to stay right here, Ca la Paula still runs as an inn: you'll find it, along with the other options in the village and the area, in where to stay.