What to see in Castellfollit de la Roca

Up top: the tip of the cliff

The old town takes up the eastern end of the cliff and finishes in an open space above a sheer drop. That's where you'll find the two essential visits:

• The Plaça de Josep Pla viewpoint, on the edge of the rock face, with views over the Fluvià and Toronell valleys. According to the town council, it was the village cemetery until the 1960s.
• The old church of Sant Salvador, documented since the Middle Ages, burnt during the Spanish Civil War and rescued by local people in the 1980s as a cultural space. You can climb its bell tower during opening hours.

To get there you walk through the old town: narrow streets, small squares such as Plaça del Cingle, and houses of volcanic stone.

Down below: the river and the rock

From the top you can't see the cliff you're standing on. To understand why the village is famous, you have to go down:

• The basalt cliff itself: two lava flows, one on top of the other, with the basalt columns clearly visible.
• The footbridge over the Fluvià, made of wood, from where you see the village on top of the rock.
• The medieval bridge over the Toronell and the Via Annia, the cobbled path that links the vegetable gardens with the old church.

All three are linked by the Natural Park's route 13, which we describe in the walking route.

In the newer part, by the road

Outside the old town, along the old Girona–Olot road, you'll find the Torre del Rellotge, the clock tower with its figure of Sant Roc, and several façades that the town council includes in its heritage inventory: Ca la Paula, an inn since 1870; Vila Margarita, with the dates 1865 and 1911 on its façade; and Can Gussinyer, with a lintel dated 1681.

The classic view from the road, with the north face of the cliff straight ahead, is next to the bridge over the Fluvià. We explain it in the photography guide.

The basalt quarry

The town council notes that the village quarry is the only working basalt quarry in Spain and that the Ortiz family has run it since 1929. It's a working business, not somewhere to visit, but you see its stone all over the village: the paving in the old town is basalt.

The sausage museum no longer exists

Many guides still mention the Museu de l'Embotit, a museum of cured sausages run by a local family of charcuterie makers, on the Girona road. Don't go looking for it: the town council announced that its building would be demolished from 5 May 2025. On the site, the town council plans a new street that will link the Girona road with the camí de ronda, the walkway that runs along the cliff on the old-town side. That walkway is another council project: in July 2026 the council announced that the first phase of the works would start at the end of that year and that, once finished, it will be a promenade along the cliff between the old town and Carrer Girona.

Keep exploring

• History and geology: how the rock formed and what happened in the village.
• Photography: where the classic photos are taken, and in what light.
• Nearby sights: Besalú, Olot, the volcanoes and the Fageda d'en Jordà.