Mas Avel·lí

Mas Avel·lí is a traditional Catalan masia located in Corró d'Avall, a village within the municipality of Les Franqueses del Vallès, in the Vallès Oriental comarca, Barcelona province. It's a stop for travelers who want to see genuine rural Catalan architecture away from the guidebook trail — set among the farmland and small woodland patches that have survived despite the steady urban growth of the Barcelona metropolitan area.

How do you get to Mas Avel·lí?

The building stands along the road running from Corró d'Avall toward Cànoves, roughly at the 1.3-kilometer mark of that route. Driving is the most practical option: Les Franqueses del Vallès sits about 30 km north of central Barcelona and connects easily with Granollers, the capital of Vallès Oriental, from where local roads lead to Corró d'Avall. If you don't have a car, take the train to Granollers and continue by local bus or taxi to Corró d'Avall, followed by a short walk or bike ride of a few minutes along the road toward Cànoves. It's worth having a GPS or offline map ready (coordinates: 41.635175, 2.310523), since the surrounding area is rural and not every side road is signposted.

What will you see there?

Mas Avel·lí is a masia-type residential building — the classic form of Catalan rural architecture that combines living quarters with agricultural use, typically built in stone with a plain, functional profile and a tiled gable roof. It appears in the local heritage catalogue of masies and rural buildings kept by the Les Franqueses del Vallès council, listed as a residential building worth architectural protection. This matters for visitors: Mas Avel·lí is private property. It isn't a museum and its interior isn't open to the public — the appeal here is seeing an authentic, still-standing piece of working rural architecture from the outside, set against the farmland, hedgerows, and small groves typical of the Vallès Oriental landscape.

The surrounding area of Corró d'Avall is also a good base for walking or cycling. The terrain is flat to gently rolling, and the farm tracks connecting individual masies form a natural network of routes through the rural part of the municipality.

When's the best time to visit?

Spring (April to June) and early autumn (September to October) are the best windows, when temperatures across the Vallès region are mild and the fields around the masia keep their green, cultivated look. Midday heat in summer can be intense, and the road offers little shade over longer stretches, so plan a morning or late-afternoon walk or ride instead. Since the building is viewed from outside, there are no opening hours to worry about — it's accessible in daylight, year-round.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you go inside Mas Avel·lí? No. It's a private agricultural property, viewable only from the outside, from the public road.

What's the best way to get there without a car? Granollers is the nearest major transport hub, reachable by train from Barcelona; from there, local bus or taxi services connect to Corró d'Avall.

Are there other masies worth seeing nearby? Yes — Corró d'Avall and the wider Les Franqueses del Vallès area include several similar rural buildings listed in the local architectural heritage catalogue, making the area a good spot for a longer walk focused on rural Catalan architecture.

Is it worth combining with a visit to Granollers? Definitely. Granollers, as the capital of the Vallès Oriental comarca, offers a fuller range of restaurants and accommodation, while Corró d'Avall provides a quiet, rural counterpoint to that trip.