Two days in Girona

I arrived in Girona late Wednesday afternoon, and I had two full days, Thursday and Friday, to explore the town. To be honest, it was more time than was needed to see what there is to see here. Some people do it as an easy day trip from Barcelona.

But I am glad I allowed myself this much time here. After six days in Barcelona, each of which was full of things to see and do, and each of which involved a lot of walking to and from my apartment, it was nice to have a more leisurely pace for a few days. Here my apartment is right on the edge of the old town, so I could easily set out for a while, come back, and set out again.

Also, it rained on and off the entire time, so I was able to time my outings between showers. This morning, alas, the sun is out, and it’s almost time to move on. My train to Carcassonne departs at 10:10 am.

Anyway, other than a two old churches and a two museums, the only thing to do in Girona is walk around and admire it. Which I did, because it is such a lovely place.

A quick history lesson

Girona was an ancient Roman city called Gerunda. They built a fortification here, and a lot of the ancient walls are still standing, and you can walk a good long section of them.

After the Romans came the Visigoths, and then the Moors conquered the area in 715. But unlike southern Spain, Moorish rule only lasted here for about 70 years. Charlemagne conquered the area in 785, though the Moors repeatedly sacked the city over the next two centuries.

In the 12th century Girona became a city within Aragon, when Catalunya and Aragon were united under a single dynasty. And that’s about the time construction began on the two churches I visited.

Jews in Girona

There was a strong Jewish community in Girona. They may have been here as early as the 4th century, but the first documented evidence is from the late 9th century. The community flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries. Moshe ben Nachman, also known as Nachmanides and by the acronym Ramban, was born here in 1194 and lived here for most of his life. Nachman was the chief Rabbi of Girona and an important scholar of Kabbala, a mystical school of thought within Judaism.

The Great Debate

In the year 1267 Nachman participated in a debate that was a watershed moment for the history of the Jews in Europe.

It’s peripheral to the history of Girona, so I won’t reproduce it, but you can read about it (and more generally about Nachman’s life) here.

In the mid-14th century, the Black Plague struck, and although many Jews also died, their deaths were in lower numbers, probably because of their good hygiene. They were blamed for the plague, and this began the decline of the Jewish community in Girona. And of course, in 1492 the Inquisition meant that they were forced to convert or be exiled.

Girona has one of the best preserved Jewish quarters in all of Europe.

Recent history

Girona has undergone 25 sieges and has been captured seven times. During the Napoleonic era they were under French rule from 1809 to 1813.

This monument, in Plaça de la Independència, honors the soldiers who defended Girona against the Napoleonic army.

More troubles for this region came to a head in 1939, when Franco took over. He banned the Catalan language and changed the name of the city to Gerona (the Spanish name). All the street names changed to Spanish their Spanish equivalents. Aside from things like that (imagine the leader of a country changing geographical names just to suit him!) Franco’s government was Fascist and repressive, and Catalunya especially suffered.

After Franco died in 1975, the monarchy was restored, and Juan Carlos led the transition to democracy. In 1980 Gerona became Girona once again.

Since then the city has seen significant growth of tourism. They filmed some scenes from Season 6 of Game of Thrones here, and that helped attract still more tourists. Even though it’s March and still low season, I encoutered a lot of tour groups. Many, as I said, were daytrippers from Barcelona.

Things I saw in Girona

I’ll just share a few photos here of some of the highlights of my visit to Girona. You can see all my photos in my album.

The photo at the top of the page is a few across the Onyar River. The old quarter sits next to the river, and the colorful houses were, for me, a delightful first impression. A group of architects selected the colors in the late 20th century.