Sant Julià de Vilatorta

A town that sings on 1 May

Any account of Sant Julià de Vilatorta tends to begin with a very specific tradition: the caramelles of 1 May. Early in the morning, groups of singers move through the streets performing satirical songs that comment on the past year. The themes vary, from politics to harvests or drought, depending on what has shaped local life.

Residents listen from balconies and doorways, often responding with food or small contributions. The custom has been documented for centuries and continues here with unusual continuity. It is less a staged event than something embedded in the rhythm of the town, where participation still feels natural rather than organised for display.

Built along a hillside

Sant Julià sits at around 600 metres above sea level, right where the flatlands of the Vic plain begin to ripple before rising into les Guilleries. That shift in landscape is visible in the layout of the town itself. Streets slope, houses are built in tiers, and paths follow the lines where water is found.

The park of les Set Fonts reflects this relationship with springs that historically supplied the settlement. Water sources have shaped both the placement of buildings and the movement through the area, and the park still echoes that practical connection.

The parish church is recorded as early as the beginning of the 10th century. The current structure largely dates from the 12th-century Romanesque period, with later alterations. Its architecture is relatively restrained, but its position is what draws attention. From here, it was possible to oversee one of the natural routes between the plain and the first ranges of hills.

Elsewhere in the municipal area, early references appear to the castle of Sant Llorenç and, further away, the tower of Bellpuig, also known as Castell dels Moros. Together, these defensive points help explain how the territory was organised in medieval times across this part of Osona, with control tied closely to geography and movement through the landscape.

Summer visitors and early 20th-century design

From the late 19th century into the early 20th century, Sant Julià began to attract summer visitors, particularly from Barcelona. Its moderate altitude and proximity to Vic made it an accessible place to spend the warmer months. The town still retains several summer houses from that period, along with public buildings influenced by modernisme and noucentisme.

The local architect Miquel Pallàs contributed to a number of these projects. His work makes use of materials common in the area, such as brick, ceramic and stone, while adapting modernista ideas to a rural setting. These are not monumental buildings, but they offer a clear sense of a moment when towns in Osona began to receive an urban middle class looking for cooler air and a seasonal social life.

The former Colegio del Rosario belongs to this same context. Built at the start of the 20th century, it functioned as a school linked to educational initiatives with agricultural and social aims. The design combines classrooms that open to the outside with spaces for gardens and cultivation, reflecting pedagogical ideas that were widely discussed at the time. Although the building now serves different purposes, part of its original structure remains visible.

Traces of the Civil War

In the surrounding area, there are remains of an airfield constructed during the Spanish Civil War. It was a relatively discreet military installation, with shelters either dug into the ground or protected with stone, areas for dispersing aircraft, and a runway adapted to the terrain.

Its location, somewhat concealed among the first rises of les Guilleries, was chosen to reduce visibility from the air. Today, some of these elements can be seen along a signposted route that crosses forest paths and passes old farmhouses.

Following this route places the airfield within the more recent history of the area and shows how geography shaped military use during the conflict. Dense woodland and uneven terrain were not just background features but practical considerations that influenced how the site was designed and used.

Local food and the autumn fair

The cooking in Sant Julià reflects what is found across much of Osona. There are cured meats, hearty dishes for colder weather, and straightforward recipes linked to produce from local gardens. Coca de recapte appears frequently at celebrations and family gatherings, topped with roasted vegetables and preserved ingredients.

In autumn, the Fira de Sant Andreu usually takes place. This agricultural fair has traditionally been connected to livestock and farm products. It is not large in scale, but it maintains the feel of a regional market where farmers, residents and visitors from nearby areas still come together.

Ratafía, a liqueur typical of the comarca, is also part of everyday life. Many families continue to make it at home when the season for herbs and green walnuts arrives, keeping a domestic practice that links closely to the surrounding landscape.

Getting there and moving around

Sant Julià de Vilatorta is about a 15-minute drive from Vic. The usual approach is via local roads that pass through cultivated fields and scattered farmhouses, a landscape that represents the Osona plain before it gives way to the more wooded terrain of les Guilleries.

The town itself can be explored easily on foot. For longer walks, the surrounding area offers paths that connect with the park of les Set Fonts, nearby hermitages, and forest tracks that climb towards the first hills of the range. These are generally calm routes, shaped more by the natural setting than by any formal infrastructure, and they follow the same patterns of movement that have long linked the town to its surroundings.