L'Estany

The town takes its name from a lake that once spread across the surrounding land. The earliest written mention of Estany dates to 927, and in 990 the nobleman Sendred de Gurb gave the local church to the bishopric of Vic. In 1080, a community of Augustinian canons was established here — the foundation of the monastery. On 3 November 1133, the Archbishop of Tarragona consecrated the church to Sant Oleguer, attended by the bishops of Vic and Girona. By 1264 the monastery had been raised to the status of an abbey, with Ferrer de Calaf as its first abbot. A century later, in 1375, the community comprised twelve canons and twelve beneficiaries.

In 1448 an earthquake collapsed the church vaults and bell tower; restoration work was completed by 1451. The lake that gave the town its name was drained in 1554 on the initiative of Abbot Carles de Cardona, who had a drainage channel constructed to eliminate the standing water that was spreading malaria through the area. The lake can still partially reappear during prolonged heavy rainfall.

In 1595, Pope Clement VIII — at the instigation of Philip II — suppressed the Augustinian canonical communities within the Spanish monarchy. The community returned to Estany in 1603, this time as a collegiate church. By 1775 the community had been dissolved entirely and the church became a parish.

The village itself grew up alongside the monastery, though residents kept their own religious life centred on the chapel of Santa Cecília. Farming and livestock defined the local economy until small textile industries began arriving in the early twentieth century. The monastery was declared a National Monument on 3 June 1931, and a restoration programme begun in 1966 was inaugurated in April 1970.

The Romanesque monastery of Santa Maria de l'Estany is the main draw: its restored church and magnificent cloister feature 72 carved capitals on biblical, heraldic and floral themes, with a small museum attached that traces the history of the community. Within the village itself, the Carrer Fosc — the "Dark Street" — is a notably picturesque lane worth seeking out.

L'Estany sits on the C-59 road, which runs from Mollet and connects to the C-25 Eix Transversal. The nearest train station is in Vic. For those arriving by air, the closest airports are in Barcelona and Girona.