Barcelona Girona (Gerona)

Modern Girona (pop. 92,000) is Catalan through and through, but it’s been almost everything else over the course of history. A Roman municipium and then an important medieval center, the “city of four rivers” was an exemplar of the Spanish settlements where Christians, Jews, and a small number of Arabs coexisted in peace. Girona was the home of the renowned cabalistas de Girona, a group of 12th-century rabbis credited with early developments in the school of mystic thought called Kabbala. Although Jews were banned from the city in 1492, you can still walk the streets (or, more accurately, the staircases) of El Call, the old Jewish quarter. In more recent years, the Ajuntament of Gerona returned to the city’s roots by changing its name back to the original Catalan—Girona—in 1980. Now, this many-splendored metropolis enjoys international recognition as a cyclist’s paradise—former Tour de France hero Lance Armstrong called the city home during training season.

Orientation And Practical Information

The Riu Onyar divides the city into old and new sections. Eleven bridges, mostly pedestrian, connect the two banks. The Pont de Pedra leads into the Barri Vell (old quarter) by way of C. dels Ciutadans, one block off the bridge, which turns into C. Bonaventura Carreras i Peralta and then C. Força, leading to the cathedral and El Call, the historic Jewish neighborhood. The train and bus terminals are situated off Calle Barcelona in the new town. To get to the old city from a bus, walk through the terminal, across the parking lot and Pl. Espanya, turn left onto C. Barcelona, and go straight (a bit more than 3 blocks) until you reach a plaça. Bear right on the plaça and right again onto the small C. Nou; it will take you across Pont de Pedra to the historic area. The iron bridge to the right was built by the Eiffel Company, a modest Parisian firm.

Accommodations

There are enough hostels in Girona to find a room without much trouble, but some are no less expensive than the hotels in the new city. The best locations are within a couple of blocks of the river on either bank. If you have your heart set on particular digs, call ahead in the summer.

Food

Girona boasts exciting local cuisine, both savory and sweet. Local specialties are botifarra dolça (sweet sausage made with pork, lemon, cinnamon, and sugar) and xuixo (sugar-sprinkled pastries filled with cream). A good place to eat on the cheap is Calle Cort-Reial at the top of C. Argenteria. Pl. de la Independència, Girona’s restaurant hub, offers both high-end and cheaper options, most of which have tables on the square. Join locals at the covered mercat municipal located in Pl. Salvador Espriu. (From the tourist office facing Pont de Pedra, walk left past Pl. Cataluña and cross the river at Pont de l’Areny. ☎972 20 19 00. Open M-Sa 6am-2pm. Cash only.) Get your groceries at Caprabo, C. Sèquia, 9, a block off the Gran Viade Jaume I. (☎972 21 45 16. Open July-Aug. M-Sa 9am-9pm, Sept.-June 9am-2pm and 5-9pm. MC/V.)

Sights

Start your self-guided historical tour of the city at the Pont de Pedra and turn left down the tree-lined Rambla de la Llibertat. Continue on C. Argenteria, bearing right across C. Cort-Reial. C. Força begins on the left up a flight of stairs.

El Call. The part of the old town around C. Força and C. Sant Llorenç was once the center of Girona’s thriving medieval Jewish community (“call” comes from kahal, Hebrew for “community”). Under Rabbi Moshe Ben Nahman, the 13th century Call in Girona was pivotal in the development and spread of the Jewish mystical discipline of the Kabbalah. In the 14th century, hostilities began to mount against the Jewish community in Spain, and in 1492, all Jews who had not been converted or killed were forced into exile. In present day Girona, however, Jewish history and culture are duly commemorated. The site of the last synagogue in Girona now serves as the Centre Bonastruc Ça Porta. The center includes the prominent Museu d’Història dels Jueus, which details Jewish life, culture, and belief in the Call, and traces their persecution and flight after the Inquisition. Be sure to lose yourself (quite literally) in the narrow, winding stone staircases that surround the museum. (C. Força, 8, halfway up the hill. ☎972 21 67 61; ajgirona.org/call. Center and museum open June-Oct. M-Sa 10am-8pm, Su 10am-3pm; Nov.-May M-Sa 10am-6pm, Su 10am-3pm. Wheelchair-accessible. Museum €2, students and over 65 €1.50, under 16 free. Audioguides €4. 2hr. guided walking tours of the Barri Vell, including El Call, are available through Ajuntament de Girona i Patronat Call de Girona (☎972 21 16 78; puntb@girona-net.com); tours leave from C. Berenguer Carnicer, 3. Tours March 18-Nov. 18 Tu-Su at 10:30am; €10, under 14 free. Tour price includes museum entrance. Offered in English and Spanish.)

Cathedral Complex. The breathtaking Gothic Catedral de Girona rises 90 steps from the plaça. Its tower, along with that of Sant Feliu, defines the Girona skyline. The Torre de Charlemany and cloister are the only structures left from the 11th and 12th centuries; the rest of the building dates from the 14th-17th centuries. Look at the keystone of the world’s widest Gothic nave (23m); the builders eschewed solid stone in favor of a hollow rock with a wood “cork” for fear of weighing the structure down and collapsing it. A door on the left leads to the trapezoidal cloister and the Tresor Capitular museum, which holds some of Girona’s most precious paintings, sculptures, and decorated Bibles. Its most famous piece is the Tapis de la Creació, an 11th-century tapestry depicting the events of Genesis. (Museum ☎972 21 44 26; www.catedraldegirona.com. Open Apr.-Oct. M-F 4:30-8pm, Sa 10am-4:30pm, Su 2-8pm; Nov.-Mar. M-F 10am-7pm, Sa 4:30-7pm, Su 10am-2pm. Wheelchair-accessible with advance notice. Cathedral, tresor, and cloister €5, students and over 65 €3, ages 7-16 €1.20, under 7 free. Su free.)

Scenic Walks. Girona’s renowned Passeig de la Muralla, a 2km trail along the fortified walls of the old city, can be accessed at several points: at the Jardins de la Francesa (behind the cathedral), the Jardins d’Alemanys (behind the Museu d’Art), and the main entrance at the bottom of the Rambla in Pl. de la Marvà. (Open daily 8am-10pm.) Behind the St. Pere de Galligants church (by the Museu d’Arqueologia), you can go up on a mirador for great views of the city. Behind the cathedral, the walk coincides with the equally beautiful Passeig Arqueològic. This path skirts the northeastern medieval wall and also overlooks the city. For the less athletic, a small green train offers a guided tour (30min.) of the main sights of the old town, including the town hall, cathedral, Església de Sant Feliu, El Call, and the walls. (Tour leaves in summer daily from the Pont de Pedra every 45min. 10am-1pm and 3-6pm. Less frequently in the winter; check at the tourist office. Available in English. €4, children under 10 €3.50.) Alternatively, relax in the flower-filled Jardins del la Francesa or the shady and tranquil Jardins d’Alemanys.

Museu Del Cinema. This unusual collection of artifacts, clips, and heavy machinery might be better described as a museum of light-trickery, as over half the museum deals with pre-film forms of illusion and entertainment. The exhibit begins with a five-minute introductory video, which dramatically summarizes the development of optical amusement chronicled by the museum, beginning with Asian shadow puppets and continuing on to the invention of the camera obscura (ninth-12th centuries), the “magic lantern,” kinetoscopes, and eventually daguerreotypes, 35mm, Edison, and TV as well as the viewing culture that developed with each advance. Plenty of interactive examples along the way, along with an extensive collection of early camera and film machinery, spice up the exhibits. (C. Sèquia, 1. ☎972 41 27 77; www.museudelcinema.cat. Open May-Sept. Tu-Su 10am-8pm; Oct.-Apr. Tu-F 10am-6pm, Sa 10am-8pm, Su 11am-3pm. Wheelchair-accessible. €4, students and over 65 €2, under 16 free. AmEx/MC/V.)

Nightlife

Nightlife in Girona ranges from finger-snapping coffeehouses to rock bars and crowded discotecas. In the summer, the main attraction is Las Carpas (the tents), a congregation of outdoor dance floors, bars, and swirling lights in the middle of the Parc de la Devesa. The discotecas here engage in a symbiotic relationship appropriate to their forest environment, each feeding off of each other’s energy and clientele even as they try to blast their music the loudest and sell the most drinks. (Beer €3, mixed drinks €7. Open May-Sept. 15 M-Th and Su 11pm-3:30am, F-Sa 11pm-4:30am.) A trek up C. Pedret will lead to some more options for late-night drinking and dancing, while back in the old quarter you can find a handful of more mellow bars to start the night out.

Festivals

Starting on the second Saturday in May, government-sponsored Temps de Flors (www.gironatempsdeflors.net) exhibitions spring up all over the city; local monuments and pedestrian streets swim in blossoms for two whole weeks and the courtyards of Girona’s finest old buildings are open to the public (ask for the “mapa de flors” from the tourist office). Summer evenings often inspire spontaneous Sardana dancing in the plaça. Girona, along with the rest of Catalunya, lights up for the Focs de Sant Joan on the night of June 23, featuring fireworks and bonfires. For Viernes Santo, the Friday of Semana Santa, Cofrarías, or church groups, dress up in Old World costumes. Keep an eye out for the men from San Luc decked out in full Roman soldier regalia, including cavalry and weapons. At the end of June, the Festival de Músiques Religioses del Món (☎972 20 76 34; www.ajuntament.gi/musiquesreligioses) draws choirs and artists from all over the world to perform in the cathedral and on its grand steps, including everything from Tanzanian dance troupes to classical piano recitals. The patron saint, Sant Narcís, is celebrated for five days at the end of October, with parades, street-fairs and of course, plenty of fireworks.