Girona (Gerona in Castilian), with about 109,000 inhabitants, is the capital of its province in north-east Catalonia, where four rivers meet, including the Onyar. Less than an hour from Barcelona and the Costa Brava, it is an elegant, quiet city with one of Spain's best-preserved historic centres.
History
Founded by the Romans as Gerunda on the Via Augusta, it was briefly Moorish and then taken by Charlemagne in 785, joining the Catalan counties. In the Middle Ages it was home to one of the peninsula's most important Jewish communities, a centre of Kabbalistic study, until the expulsion of 1492. Because of its strategic position on the road between France and Spain, Girona suffered dozens of sieges, the last, during the War of Independence, lasting seven months in 1809: hence its name, "the city of a thousand sieges".
What to see
- The Onyar houses, colourful façades on the river, best seen from the bridges, such as the iron Pont de les Peixateries Velles, built by Gustave Eiffel's company.
- Santa Maria cathedral, with its monumental Baroque stairway and the widest Gothic nave in the world, over 22 metres; its museum holds the eleventh-century Tapestry of Creation (see Gothic).
- The Call, the medieval Jewish quarter, a maze of stone lanes, with the Museum of the History of the Jews of Girona.
- The wall walk (Passeig de la Muralla), with towers and views over the city and the Pyrenees.
- The basilica of Sant Feliu and the Romanesque monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants, now an archaeology museum.
- The Arab baths, actually built in Romanesque style in the twelfth century.
- The arcaded Rambla de la Llibertat, with its cafés, and the plane-tree-lined Parc de la Devesa.
- The lioness by Sant Feliu church: tradition says whoever kisses her bottom will return to Girona.
The city was also a Game of Thrones location, standing in for Braavos and King's Landing. See what to see in Girona and museums.
Festivals and food
In May Temps de Flors fills the city with floral installations; in October and November come the Fires de Sant Narcís (see Girona's festivals). Girona is also a food capital: home to El Celler de Can Roca, the Roca brothers' restaurant, several times named the world's best (see eating in Girona).
Getting there
Girona-Costa Brava airport, 12 km away, is used by several low-cost airlines. High-speed trains link Girona with Barcelona in about 40 minutes, and with Figueres and France. From the city it is easy to reach Figueres and the Dalí Museum, the Costa Brava with Cadaqués, Tossa de Mar and Calella de Palafrugell, the medieval villages of Besalú and Pals and the volcanic Garrotxa area.