Ripoll Tourist Attractions
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The little industrial town of Ripoll lies well inland on the southern slopes of the Collado de Ares, over which runs the Spanish-French frontier, at the junction of the Río Freser with the Río Ter. There are a number of coal-mines in the surrounding area.
Surroundings
San Juan de las Abadesas
10km/6mi northeast of Ripoll on C 151 is the little town of San Juan de las Abadesas. In the center of the town is the large church of San Juan (Sant Joan) - the third church on the site, consecrated in 1150, when the convent had been made over to the Augustinians.
Descent from the Cross
In the otherwise undecorated interior of the church can be seen a major work of Romanesque art, the carved "Descent from the Cross" group (c. 1250) known as the "santissim misteri de Sant Joan de les Abadesses". A Late Romanesque work, it already shows Gothic features. The group consists of Christ, Mary, the two thieves (the original of the Good Thief was destroyed in 1936 and has been replaced by a copy), St John, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.
Lady Altar
In the south transept is the alabaster Lady Altar (Gothic, 1423). The church also contains the 14th century sarcophagus of Miró, a canon of Sant Juan, whose recumbent figure is on the lid.
Cloister
To the left of the west front of the church is a gatehouse with a doorway giving access to St Michael's Cloister, with delicate Gothic arcades and a coffered ceiling.
Museum
The exhibits in the Museum come almost entirely from the former monastery and other churches in the town.
Olot
The industrial town of Olot, 36km/22mi east of Ripoll on C 150, has little to offer the visitor apart from a number of museums - the Regional Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, a museum of religious art and a house furnished in the style of the 17th-19th Centuries.
Zona Volcano
Around Olot is the dramatic volcanic landscape of the Garrotxa area. The largest crater is the Crater de Santa Margarida, northwest of the town, which has a diameter of 350m/380yd.
Camprodon
25km/15mi northeast of Ripoll on C 151 lies Camprodón, an attractive little town of narrow streets and tightly packed houses with a shady Plaza Mayor. In the square is the parish church, and behind it, on higher ground, a former monastic church, built in the 11th century on the site of an earlier 10th Century church.
