Architecture of Girona

        As one Russian writer once said: “We are not always victims of history, but always of geography”. Placed on a strategic point, that was an indispensable step, Girona has seen the history developing inexorably before its eyes.

        From Hannibal to General Franco and also including Julius Caesar and Napoleon, there was not a single army that did not leave its print on the walls of our poor Girona.

        Girona is a middle-sized town – “M” label size, let’s say, - located just in the heart of what we can call, “old Catalonia”. Surrounded by Guilleries mountains from the west, by Serra de Finestres Mountains from the north and Gavarres hills from the east; Girona will not be able to escape from you if you come from the south. But be careful: later it will be difficult for you to escape from Girona. This has happened to a lot of people.

       Our town is 70 meters over the sea level and 25 km. away from the seashore. So, when the cold northern wind blows, Girona citizens miss the warm presence of the Mediterranean and we climb Els Angels hill (400m high) in order to watch the never-ending blue of the sea. But Girona people are patient ones and we do not like to remain up there for long. We know that our destiny is there, down, among the humid and narrow streets of the millennial Girona. And though our past is chiselled in big blocks of stone, actually, we are quite satisfied and happy to live in Girona.

       Ancient Romans founded Gerunda two thousand years ago and the town has been inhabited since then. Those Romans constructed the town in the shape of a triangle, with the base perpendicular to the river and crowned its top angle with a solid and proud fortification, a so-called Gironella Tower.

       After the Romans the Francs, the Germans and the Visigoths walked along these place and left their trace on the walls. Even the Arabs, being here for seventy years, turned the present cathedral into the mosque

       In all these cases, the natives of Girona exhibited their most genuine and calculating spirit, limiting themselves to non-resistance and paying the taxes that were demanded from them. It is necessary to say that this custom has been preserved to the present day.

       The medieval town kept on growing, the walls spread, extending the base of the ancient Roman triangle and later jumped to the other side of the river. Beside the cathedral and along the street Carrer de la Força there appeared a Jewish quarter - the most important one of Catalonia.

       There is no doubt that the medieval town is the most appreciated heritage of Girona: its narrow and winding streets, surrounding the cathedral, form an urban landscape photographed every other moment by thousands of tourists.

       Once you have arrived in Girona, sure that you have already seen from some place the unmistakable silhouette of the cathedral. This stone mass is impressive for anyone who sees it both for the first time and for those who - like me - see it frequently.

       The fact was that the previous Romanic cathedral had become too small for the bishops. They wanted a gothic one – at that time this style was very fashionable - and they wished it to be constructed just there. How could they build a new cathedral and keep on using the old one? Guillem Bofill, the first master of the cathedral, suggested to build a unique nave to cover the old one and later to demolish it when it was already covered. The result was a nave of 23 meters wide, the widest gothic one in the world. If you find a wider nave, just show the ticket at the entrance and they will return your money back.

       I would also like to tell you – just for finishing my story - that on Sant Feliu square there is one roman column reproduction of four meters high, called La Lleona (The lioness). It has inspired a proverb according to which none can be considered to be from Girona without having kissed the ass of the lioness. Here it happens vice versa than in the fairy tale with the frog and the princess: here the one being transformed is not the one kissed, but the one who kisses, the one, who will forever become Girona citizen deep in the heart. The one who, since this moment, is always going to miss our town much more.

Xavier Cristófol