A portrait of Girona
Girona is a quiet, pretty and staunchly Catalan city, characterised by stacked yellow, red and orange buildings decorated with sets of higgledy-piggledy balconies, which reflect the tones and colours of this sun-drenched Spanish region. The city itself is situated at the confluence of four flowing rivers – the Onyar, Ter, Galligant and the Güell – and surrounded by a sweep of shallow mountain ranges. The Pyrenees Mountains lie just beyond the horizon to the north and the Mediterranean coast to the south-east, while Barcelona and La Roca Village are also within easy striking distance.
The strategic location of Girona, nicknamed the ‘City of a Thousand Sieges’, has made it the envy of invaders and conquerors for millennia. The Romans, Iberians, Goths, Franks and the Moors, the armies of Charlemagne and the troops of Napoleon – who finally took the city after three particularly bloody battles – have all left an impression on the city at one time or another. More recently the city was the target of prolonged bombing during the Spanish Civil War. So it is perhaps a miracle that any signs of the city’s fascinating history has survived; indeed cross its squares and narrow cobbled streets, great relics of this rich and varied cultural past can still be seen.
The labyrinth old quarter, on the eastern bank of the Onyar, is home to a number of these historical gems, to be discovered among the winding streets of the Barri Vell, many charmed with a rustic look of slow neglect, and others in El Call, the old Jewish neighbourhood. Rising high above these pleasant medieval streets are the remains of the old city walls – a great vantage point for views across Girona – and the magnificent and hefty-looking Cathedral de Santa Maria, visible from miles around on its raised platform above the city. It’s a heady sight as you approach it, up the 18th-century stairway of 90 steps that rise from the people’s streets beneath to the house of God above. Like Rome’s Spanish Steps, these stone stairs become terraced seating, doubling up as a meeting place and general hangout after dark. The Cathedral itself has been restored and redesigned a number of times over the years; a domed bell-tower dominates a façade of white washed walls, ornate carvings and statues. It was originally built in the early 11th-century and amongst its period features is the world’s widest Gothic nave – at an impressive width of 72 feet.
What history you can’t witness in the nooks and sculptures and shadows of the cathedral can be found in the carvings and markings of other buildings around the city or displayed in a number of excellent museums. One of these, the Museu d’Art, displays over 8,000 pieces, from fragile Romanesque carvings to the bold and brash paintings of the 20th-century. Nearby are the Banys Arabs, the old Arab-style baths that were built in 1194. At €2 a tour it’s well worth a quick turn of these ancient buildings, which, like much of Girona, were occupied by a host of different groups, at one point being used by a Capuchin convent as a kitchen and pantry.
Today, the city attracts an entirely new siege of outsiders, notably the armies of cyclists that arrive each year to explore the surrounding countryside, which is home to some of Europe’s best cycling spots. The mountainous terrain that shadows the city is home to 700km of mountain bike trails. A number of professional cyclists – including cycling great Lance Armstrong – have lived here for a time to make the most of this pilgrimage for peddlers. Whether you’re speeding around the countryside on a saddle or walking across the cool stone steps of the old town, you’ll find hidden gems around every corner.
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09-09-2011
