GIRONA

 

Girona (75,269 inh.). Roman municipality, square, fort and, given its strategic location, compulsory area of passage. Crossed by four rivers, and until modern times, completely walled in, the city reached its greatest vigour in the late Middle Ages, when its premises were extended considerably with the incorporation of the suburbs of Sant Pere, Sant Feliu and el Mercadal, and with its extension to the North by Pedret and to the S along the routes of Barcelona and the coast. Market centre and village with a strong cultural tradition, it boasts one of the best monumental ensembles in Catalonia: the monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants, the church of Sant Nicolau, the Arab Baths, the cloister and tower of Carlemany and the cathedral, which are excellent examples of Romanesque style. The cathedral is famous for the dimensions of its large Gothic nave, the widest in all of medieval architecture. Its wealthy Capitular Museum displays a its beautiful cloister and conserves the valuable Tapiz de la Creación (Tapestry of Creation), a jewel of Romanesque art. By the cathedral, a varied collection of artistic objects from different eras and styles is displayed in the Episcopal Palace (Museu d'Art de Girona). This admirable ensemble is completed with stately houses, ruins of walls, gates and monasteries such as the one of Sant Domènec and the old Jewish quarter known as el Call.