Girona

Girona's origins lie with the Iberian Indigetes tribe, before Pompey built a fortified settlement on the Via Heraclea and the Romans founded Gerunda, repopulated from nearby Sant Julià de Ramis and well connected to the port at Empúries. The city flourished as an early episcopal see under Tarragona, then passed through Muslim conquest before the townspeople themselves killed the garrison in 785 and handed the city to Charlemagne in exchange for keeping their customary laws. This act made Girona the seat of the County of Gerona, and Catalan historian Ramon d'Abadal saw it as a founding moment in the emergence of Catalonia itself.

New walls strengthened the city, and the Jewish community reached its peak during this period, its Kabbalistic school earning lasting renown. The city kept expanding through the medieval centuries but suffered badly during the Napoleonic wars. The current stone bridge dates from 1856, and the southern walls were partly demolished in 1889 when the army dropped Girona's fortress status, giving the city roughly the shape it has today.

In 2016 the Council of Europe awarded Girona the Europe Prize, only the second Spanish city to receive it after Santiago de Compostela.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria took shape between the eleventh and eighteenth centuries, layering Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque one after another. Its Romanesque cloister has finely carved capitals, and its single Gothic nave is the second widest in the world after St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Ninety steps, built between 1686 and 1699, lead up to a Baroque façade.

The old town, which follows the footprint of Roman Gerunda, is ringed by massive walls you can walk along an archaeological promenade, with a lookout over the city. Within those walls sit the Romanesque monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants, the chapel of Sant Nicolàs, and the Basilica of Sant Feliu with its tall Gothic tower, truncated by lightning. The Jewish quarter, El Call, preserves a dense web of medieval lanes; the Bonastruc ça Porta Centre occupies what may have been the synagogue and now houses a Museum of Jewish History.

The so-called Arab Baths at the end of the promenade are actually a Romanesque Christian construction, identifiable by their domed lantern. Down at river level, the painted houses overhanging the Onyar are one of Girona's most recognisable sights, their colours set to a palette devised by three local architects. The Rambla de la Llibertat, though it only took its current form in 1885, retains medieval arcades and connects the river to the old town.

Sagalés Bus 607 runs from Girona Airport to the bus station in roughly 30 minutes at irregular hours timed to flights; Bus 602 also connects Barcelona Airport, Barcelona, Girona Airport, Girona and Figueres on the same ticket (€2.60 in 2024), bought from the kiosk by the bus stops. High-speed AVE trains run roughly hourly from Barcelona Sants, taking 40 minutes non-stop; international trains (four daily, one originating in Madrid via Zaragoza) continue to Figueres, Perpignan, Narbonne and beyond, reservations compulsory. Rodalies regional trains take 90 minutes from Barcelona Sants.

One overnight Flixbus runs from Barcelona, continuing to Béziers, Montpellier, Nîmes and Lyon. For food, note that Plaça Independència and the Rambla de la Llibertat near the cathedral are touristy with overpriced food; Taj Bangla next door at Cort-Reial 6 opens 12:00–16:00 and 19:00–00:00. Girona falls within the Empordà DO wine region, divided into Alt Empordà near the French border and Baix Empordà toward the coast, cultivating around two dozen grape varieties and also producing cava.