Bixessarri, a humble church beside the Os river

Bixessarri lies in the valley of the Os river, on the western side of Sant Julià de Lòria, and almost everyone who comes here is on their way to Canòlich or the Coll de la Gallina. There are no grand monuments. What you get is a river, a small church with its date cut into the stone and a picnic area that, for me, is the best place in the parish to stop with children at lunchtime.

Getting there

From the main road at Aixovall, the CG-6, known as the Aixovall road, follows the Os river up to Bixessarri. At kilometre 0.7 the footpath to Canòlich starts, so if you’re driving you’ll see the sign before you reach the village. Past Bixessarri, the CS-600 keeps climbing towards the sanctuary and the Coll de la Gallina.

Sant Esteve, dated 1701

The church of Sant Esteve de Bixessarri has a rectangular plan with no apse, a pitched roof, a porch and a single-arch bell wall on its west front. The west-facing doorway has a lintel, jambs and band decorated with carved borders, and the lintel bears the date 1701. Four windows, possibly from two different periods, light the key points of the liturgy, meaning the altar, the nave and the choir.

Inside, the sanctuary area is raised above the nave and dominated by an 18th-century Baroque altarpiece dedicated to Saint Stephen. The whitewashed nave, with its stone floor, keeps some of its furniture and a Baroque timber choir. Andorra Turisme counts it among the humblest churches in the country, which I take as a compliment. No opening hours are published.

The Os river and the picnic area

The Bixessarri picnic area is at kilometre 3.76 of the CG-6, at 1,160 m, on the bank of the Os river. There’s a fountain for filling water bottles, three tables with benches, a barbecue and a small playground. It isn’t the only one, as other rest areas line the same road and river, such as Prat de l’Avellaner and Prat de Senzill. The tourist board suggests checking their condition with the tourist office before setting off, and for any emergency the number is 112.

On to Canòlich

With lunch done, I’d carry on up the CS-600 to the Canòlich Sanctuary, home of the parish patron at 1,635 m. If you’ve brought a bike, the same road ends at the top of the Gallina pass, 1,910 m up, and you can freewheel all the way back down to the Os valley afterwards.

And if you’d rather arrive on foot, the Canòlich path that starts lower down on the CG-6 faces north and is well shaded, so in high summer it’s kinder than its height gain suggests. Just keep enough daylight for the return, as it’s graded hard.