The Medieval City of Girona

Girona lies about an hour north of Barcelona, and, with a population of 100,000 is one of only a handful of Catalunya's large cities, after Barcelona with it's 3.5 million. What makes it a tourist attraction is the magnificent cathedral of Sant Felieu, built into the foot of a hill on the north side of the sluggish river which separates it and a handful of other medieval buildings from the modern city, which lies on flat land across the river and to the east of the old section. Near the cathedral, the Jewish Baths, also known as the Arab Baths, is also well worth visiting.

The Busturistic guide offered a guided tour of the principal attractions, but we chose to guide ourselves, since we had four hours and had realized, by this time, that having lunch in Spain is a casual affair. The American system usually involves receiving your bill soon after, or slightly before, you finish eating, In Spain, that never happens. Diners might wait around an hour or more before their waiter seems to notice that they're done, so sitting down to eat while hoping to make an appointment is an exercise in futility.

Not wishing to go through that, we took our time, both at the little cafe where we had juice, coffee, and pastries, and at the restaurant were we enjoyed sandwiches and a bottle of wine. As usual, the wine was reasonably priced, at 8 euros, and very drinkable. The restaurant had a German theme, offering bratwursts and an assortment of sausages, but I went for the pernil dulc, or sweet ham, while my wife tried the tuna. She found the tuna rather plain, since it was prepared without the garnishments we take for granted on an American sandwich, but the ham, with a slice of excellent cheese, didn't suffer for lack of mayonnaise.

There was a low admission fee for the baths, a kind of manmade stone grotto built as a series of rooms which work their way down in a spiral, feeling rather cavelike. An interesting feature was the installation of modern art in the baths, hanging steel, very simple. We emerged onto a stone staircase leading to the bright sunshine which made my attempts at photography outside hopeless. There was nothing but glare although the rooftops, under better lighting conditions, would have made a great photograph.

It was a short walk to the front of the cathedral, a massive stone building. The front steps probably rise a hundred feet from ground level to the front door. We went up the left side of the building, a steep climb which led around a stone wall, obviously built as fortification. The tourist brochure mentioned the seige of 1283, and we could see the old city wall not far away to the north. It was a great place to sit and think about what it must have been like to withstand an attack there.

Catalunya was occupied by the Muslims for only twenty years, until the growing power of Charlemagne, based in nearby France, drove the invaders out. The medieval kingdom of Aragon included the Catalunyan region, as well as a part of southern France. As a student of history, it was a place I found fascinating, although medieval Europe is something I have only a hazy understanding of.

We did notice kids running around with toy swords and shields no doubt purchased in a local shop, and the stone walls and buildings appear like something out of a knights in armor melodrama. It calls to mind the epic of Roland, much of which concerns Carolingian battles in this part of the world.

We worked our way to the top of the wall and entered the monastery complex above the cathedral, following an intricate path on ramps and narrow passageways which offered a nice view of the cathedral roof. Inside the walls, one feels very much as though the thirteenth century is still going on. The paths led directly to a side door which offered entry to Sant Felieu. The man standing in the doorway holding a plastic cup said nothing until my wife tried the wrong door, then gently directed her toward the correct one. The only thing that identified him as a mendicant was the small plastic cup he held in his hands, with a few coins in it.

The cathedral is huge--considered the largest free-standing nave anywhere--and very tall. The walls are taken up with a series of chapels, each decorated with statures dedicated to the memories of particular saints, and equipped with electric lights one turns on by pressing a small green button. After a few moments, spent inspecting the bleeding saints and auxiliary figures, the light goes out on its own and its time to move along. We probably spent half an hour inside the building, then visited the adjoining cathedral which, it being Sunday, was holding a catholic service, with local and tourists seated together on the pews. It felt a little sacriligeous, but we stood, with a few other tourists, just outside the chapel, listening to the service held in Catalunyan.

On the footbridge leading back to Independence Plaza, a more aggressive beggar implored us for coins. He was only the third we had seen in six days.