Most tourists landing at
Girona Airport (Gerona) travel straight for either Barcelona or the holiday resorts along the Costa Brava, thus missing this very attractive Catalan city. Girona has lots to offer the traveller, including fine museums, ancient monuments, art galleries and wonderful medieval architecture. Flowing through the city centre is the Onyar River crossed by the Pont de les Peixateries bridge which was designed by the famous Gustav Eiffel. Picturesque and quaint houses painted in bright colours of green, orange, red and ochre face the Onyar river.
Girona has a long recorded history dating back to Celtaiberian tribes, then it later grew as an important Roman settlement, then known as Gerunda. There used to be a large Jewish population right up until their formal expulsion in about 1492, now the well preserved maze of roads that make up the old Jewish sector is one of foremost of Girona attractions. The tale of the medieval Jewish people is well documented in an interesting museum found on the calle Forca.
Further north of the Jewish sector are the so called, Arab Baths, which date further back to the 12th century. Despite their modern name, they were actually constructed by Christians many decades after the Moors had finally left the city. The Arab Baths contain a corridor and four fine rooms, namely; the apoditerium, the frigidarium cold dips, a warmer tepidarium and the piping hot caldarium. Closeby is the old monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants that is an prime example of medieval and Romanesque style architecture. The building is now home to the Archaeology Museum which has a good collection of relics that have been excavated from all round Girona, including beautiful Roman mosaics and several medieval artifacts.
Another reknowned landmark in the city is the 11th century
Girona Cathedral, although there are several later alterations and additions including and up to the late 18th century. The cathedral is most notable for the wide Gothic nave and the 17th century Baroque type facade. Inside there is a rather small museum showing an array of relics, including rare 10th century manuscripts that are now known as the "Beatus", and the "Tapestry of Creation" probably made in the 12th century.
Further north of the cathedral is a former 18th century monastic building, now home to the
Girona City History Museum, a strange and interesting feature of this building is the alcoves where the dead bodies of the Monks were stored for a few years to decompose. The museum houses relics that follow the history of Girona from the prehistoric era to the modern day, with particular fine didplays about the Spanish Civil War and the Catalan struggle against the new fascist government led by Franco.
The Museum of Art Girona is housed within a previous Episcopal Palace nearby to the cathedral. It now has an good collection of artworks, including early 11th century carvings made by the monks, and old paintings from the later years.
The Girona Tourist Office is found on the Rambla de la Llibertat down by the river. Here you can purchase the Tiquet M5 which offers large discounts at most of the local museums. Girona itself is situated about 4 miles (7km) from the international airport. The Sagales bus company runs a fairly regular service to the airport from the Girona Bus terminus in the city centre.
