Sights in Girona
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The Call
Until 1492 Girona was home to Catalonia's second-most important medieval Jewish community (after Barcelona), and its Jewish quarter, the Call, was centred on Carrer de la Força. For an idea of medieval Jewish life and culture, visit the Museu d'Història dels Jueus de Girona Also known as the Centre Bonastruc Ça Porta, named after Jewish Girona's most illustrious figure, a 13th-century cabbalist philosopher and mystic, the centre – a warren of rooms and stairways around a courtyard – hosts temporary exhibitions and is a focal point for studies of Jewish Spain.
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Banys Àrabs
Although modelled on earlier Muslim and Roman bathhouses, the Banys Árabs are a finely preserved 12th-century Christian affair in Romanesque style. This is the only public bathhouse discovered from medieval Christian Spain, where, in reaction to the Muslim obsession with water and cleanliness, washing almost came to be regarded as ungodly. The baths contain an apodyterium (changing room), followed by a frigidarium and tepidarium (with respectively cold and warm water) and a caldarium (a kind of sauna) heated by an underfloor furnace.
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Church
Girona's second great church is downhill from the cathedral. The 17th-century main facade, with its landmark single tower, is on Plaça de Sant Feliu, but the entrance is around the side. The nave has 13th-century Romanesque arches but 14th- to 16th-century Gothic upper levels. The northernmost of the chapels, at the far western end of the church, is graced by a masterly Catalan Gothic sculpture, Aloi de Montbrai's alabaster Crist Jacent (Recumbent Christ).
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Església de Sant Feliu
Girona’s second great church is downhill from the cathedral. The 17th-century main facade, with its landmark single tower, is on Plaça de Sant Feliu, but the entrance is around the side. The nave has 13th-century Romanesque arches but 14th- to 16th-century Gothic upper levels and a Baroque tower. The northernmost of the chapels is graced by a masterly Catalan Gothic sculpture, Aloi de Montbrai’s alabaster Crist Jacent (Recumbent Christ).
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Museum
The cathedral's museum, through the door marked 'Claustre Tresor', contains the masterly Romanesque Tapís de la Creació (Tapestry of the Creation) and a Mozarabic illuminated Beatus manuscript, dating from 975. The Creation tapestry shows God at the epicentre and in the circle around Him the creation of Adam, Eve, the animals, the sky, light and darkness.
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Cinema Museum
The Casa de les Aigües houses Spain's only cinema museum. The Collecció Tomàs Mallol includes not only displays tracing the history of cinema, but also a parade of hands-on items for indulging in shadow games, optical illusions and the like - it's great for kids.
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Museu d’Història dels Jueus de Girona
Until 1492 Girona was home to Catalonia’s second-most important medieval Jewish community (after Barcelona), and one of the finest Jewish quarters in the country, the Call (Catalan for ‘ghetto’), was centred on the narrow Carrer de la Força for 600 years, until relentless persecution forced the Jews out of Spain. The restored Centre Bonstruc ća Porta, named after Jewish Girona’s most illustrious figure – a 13th-century cabbalist philosopher and mystic – houses the excellent Museu d’Història dels Jueus de Girona, which shows genuine pride in Girona’s Jewish heritage without shying away from the less salubrious aspects, such as persecution by the Inquisition and forced…
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Museu del Cinema
The Casa de les Aigües houses Spain’s only cinema museum. The Tomás Mallol (Girona film director) collection includes not only displays tracing the history of cinema from the late-19th-century debut of the Lumiére brothers, but also a parade of hands-on items for indulging in shadow games, optical illusions and the like – it’s great for kids.
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Museu d’Art
Next door to the cathedral, in the 12th- to 16th-century Palau Episcopal, the art museum collection consists of around 8500 pieces of art from the Girona region, ranging from Romanesque woodcarvings and stained-glass tables to Modernist sculptures by Olot-born Miquel Blay and early-20th-century paintings by Francesc Vayreda.
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City History Museum
The City History Museum has displays covering everything from the city's Roman origins, through the siege of the city by Napoleonic troops to the sardana (Catalonia's national folk-dance) tradition.
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Museu d’Història de la Ciutat
The engaging and well-presented City History Museum does Girona’s long and impressive history justice, its displays covering everything from the city’s Roman origins, through the siege of the city by Napoleonic troops to the sardana (Catalonia’s national folk dance) tradition. A separate gallery houses cutting-edge temporary art and photography exhibits.
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Museu Arqueològic
Museu Arqueològic has exhibits that date from prehistoric to medieval times, and include Roman mosaics and some medieval Jewish tombstones.
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Art Museum
Theart museumhas a collection that ranges from Romanesque woodcarvings to early-20th-century paintings.
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Monestir de Sant Pere de Galligants
This 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque Benedectine monastery has a lovely cloister, featuring otherworldly animals and mythical creatures on its pillars, and is home to the Museu Arqueològic, with exhibits that range from prehistoric to medieval times, including Roman mosaics and medieval Jewish tombstones.
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Catedral
The billowing baroque facade of the cathedral seems even grander as it stands at the head of a majestic flight of 86 steps rising from Plaça de la Catedral. Though the beautiful Romanesque cloister dates back to the 12th century, most of the building has been repeatedly rebuilt and altered down the centuries, giving the cathedral the second-widest Gothic nave (23m) in Christendom. The cathedral’s museum, through the door marked ‘Claustre Tresor’, contains numerous ecclesiastic treasures, including the masterly Romanesque Tapís de la Creació (Tapestry of the Creation) and a Mozarabic illuminated Beatus manuscript, dating from 975. The Creation tapestry (under…
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Museum
The cathedral's museum, through the door marked 'Claustre Tresor', contains the masterly Romanesque Tapís de la Creació (Tapestry of the Creation) and a Mozarabic illuminated Beatus manuscript, dating from 975. The Creation tapestry shows God at the epicentre and in the circle around Him the creation of Adam, Eve, the animals, the sky, light and darkness.
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Passeig Arqueològic
A walk along Girona’s medieval walls, also known as the Passeig de la Muralla, is a wonderful way to appreciate the city landscape from above. There are several points of access, the most popular being across the street from the Banys Àrabs, where steps lead up into some heavenly gardens where town and plants merge into one organic masterpiece. The southernmost part of the wall ends right near Plaça Catalunya.
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Catedral
It's worth climbing the 86 steps to this cathedral, rebuilt and altered over centuries. Inside is Europe's widest Gothic nave (23m) and in the adjacent museum, the masterly Romanesque Tapestry of the Creation. A museum ticket includes admission to a beautiful 12th-century cloister.
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