For six hundred years Girona was home to one of Catalonia's most brilliant Jewish communities, with scholars who reshaped Jewish mysticism and thought. In 1492 the Jews who refused baptism had to leave, and their alleys were closed off, forgotten and only rediscovered in the twentieth century. Twelve stops between the stone bridge, the coloured houses over the Onyar, the bridge by Eiffel's firm, Carrer de la Força, the Jewish history museum, the alley of Sant Llorenç, the tower where the community took refuge in 1391, the city walls, the cathedral with the widest nave, the basilica of Sant Feliu and its lioness, the medieval baths, the monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants and the hill of the old Jewish cemetery. Approximate audio duration: 21 minutes.
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Girona: el barrio judío que la ciudad escondió durante cinco siglos
Durante seiscientos años, Girona tuvo una de las comunidades judías más brillantes de Cataluña, con sabios que cambiaron la mística y el pensamiento judío. En 1492 los judíos que no aceptaron el bautismo tuvieron que irse, y sus callejones fueron cerrados, olvidados y redescubiertos recién en el siglo XX. Doce paradas entre el puente de piedra, las casas de colores sobre el Onyar, el puente de la casa Eiffel, la calle de la Força, el museo de los judíos, el callejón de Sant Llorenç, la torre donde la comunidad se refugió en 1391, las murallas, la catedral de la nave más ancha, la basílica de Sant Feliu y su leona, los baños medievales, el monasterio de Sant Pere de Galligants y la colina del antiguo cementerio judío. Duración aproximada de audio: 21 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~21 min of audio · 1.75 km on foot (~25 min walking) · about 1 h in total
You are standing on the Pont de Pedra, Girona's stone bridge. Below runs the Onyar, a quiet river for most of the year. Look north: tall houses pressed against the water and, above them all, the cathedral.
This bridge was finished in 1856, in the reign of Isabella II. It joined the old town, on your right, with the Mercadal district on your left, which for centuries was an area of vegetable gardens and mills.
The old town is far older. The Romans founded Gerunda in the first century BC, on a hill beside the Via Augusta, the road linking Rome with Hispania.
On that hill, centuries later, gre…
2
The Onyar Houses and the Eiffel Bridge
In front of you is an iron bridge painted red, all girders and rivets. This is the Pont de les Peixateries Velles, the bridge of the old fish stalls. It was built in 1877.
It was made by Gustave Eiffel's company, twelve years before he raised his tower in Paris. In Girona everyone simply calls it the Eiffel bridge.
Now look at the houses over the river. Yellow, ochre, red, pink. Many rest on what was once the medieval wall: when the city no longer needed defences on this side, residents built on top and opened windows onto the water.
For a long time these were damp, neglected back walls. In…
3
Carrer de la Força, Over the Roman Road
You are on Carrer de la Força. It is narrow, stone-paved, and rises gently towards the cathedral. Look at the façades: arched doorways, small windows, iron balconies.
This street follows the line of the Via Augusta inside the Roman town. Two thousand years ago travellers, soldiers and merchants came and went this way.
In the Middle Ages the Força was the spine of the call. On both sides, and in the alleys opening off to the right, lived the Jewish community: their homes, shops, synagogue, butcher's and schools.
Girona's Jews were physicians, moneylenders, craftsmen, merchants and translator…
4
The House of the Sage Nahmanides
You are in front of the Museu d'Història dels Jueus. Through the door lies a stone courtyard enclosed by high walls. This group of buildings stands on the site of the call's last synagogue, in the fifteenth century.
The centre bears the name Bonastruc ça Porta. That was the Catalan name of a man the Jewish world knows as Nahmanides, or Ramban. He was born in Girona in 1194.
He was a rabbi, a physician and one of the great medieval commentators on the Bible and the Talmud. His works are still studied today in Jewish religious schools all over the world.
In 1263 King James I summoned him to B…
5
The Alley That Was Sealed Off
You are in the alley of Sant Llorenç. It is so narrow you can almost touch both walls at once. Look up: a strip of sky between stone walls and worn steps.
Girona's Kabbalists walked these passages. In the thirteenth century the city was one of the great centres of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. Scholars such as Azriel and Ezra of Girona wrote texts here that shaped all later mystical thought.
Coexistence was never simple. The call was attacked on several occasions during Holy Week, when preaching inflamed the crowds. And in the fifteenth century, after new laws against the Jews, the quarter was…
6
The Tower Where They Took Refuge in 1391
You are at the highest point of the old city, beside the remains of the Gironella tower. Today it is a ruin among trees. For centuries it was Girona's strongest fortress, the anchor of the whole defence.
In the summer of 1391, a wave of violence against Jews began in Seville and spread across the peninsula. It reached Valencia, Majorca and Barcelona. In August it reached Girona.
A mob attacked the call. People were killed, and many houses were looted. The king's officials opened this tower to the community, and a large part of Girona's Jews shut themselves in here to save their lives.
They …
7
The Walls of the City of Sieges
You are walking on Girona's city wall. On one side, battlements and towers; on the other, the roofs of the old town and the bulk of the cathedral. From here you can see why this hill was chosen as a stronghold.
The base of these walls is Roman. In the Middle Ages they were strengthened and extended to embrace the new districts growing by the river. For centuries Girona was a fortress town on the road between France and Barcelona.
That position brought it many sieges. In 1285 it was besieged by the army of the king of France, then at war with the Crown of Aragon. And in 1808 and 1809 came Nap…
8
The Cathedral with the Widest Nave
You are at the foot of the great stairway of the cathedral of Santa Maria. Count the steps as you look up: at the top waits an eighteenth-century Baroque façade, like an altarpiece carved in stone.
But what makes it unique is inside. The cathedral has a single nave, with no columns in the middle, about twenty-three metres wide. It is the widest Gothic nave in the world.
That nave was a gamble. In the early fifteenth century the chapter could not decide between building three naves, as was usual, or a single huge one. In 1416 it gathered a group of master builders to give their opinion. Some …
9
Sant Feliu, the Flies and the Lioness
You are in front of the basilica of Sant Feliu. Look at its bell tower: tall and sturdy, but it ends abruptly, as if the tip were missing. For centuries this was one of the city's most important churches outside the cathedral precinct.
Inside, set into the walls of the presbytery, are Roman and early Christian sarcophagi, carved between the second and fourth centuries. They are among the oldest pieces Girona preserves.
Here too is the tomb of Saint Narcissus, the city's patron. And with it comes Girona's most famous legend. During the French siege of 1285, soldiers desecrated the tomb. A clo…
10
Arab Baths Built by Christians
You are in front of the Banys Àrabs, Girona's Arab Baths. If you go in, the first thing you will see is a room with an octagonal pool at its centre, ringed by slender columns, and above it a lantern that lets in the light.
The name is misleading. These baths were not built by Muslims. Girona was Muslim for only a few decades, in the eighth century. The baths were built at the end of the twelfth century, in a Christian city.
What is Arab is the model. They follow the tradition of the Roman baths that the Islamic world had preserved: a room for changing and resting, then cold, warm and hot roo…
11
The Monastery Outside the Walls
You are in front of Sant Pere de Galligants, a Benedictine monastery of golden stone. Look at the façade: a large rose window and, to one side, an octagonal bell tower. It is one of the finest examples of Catalan Romanesque.
The monastery was built outside the walls, beside the Galligants stream that gives it its name. The church you see dates from the twelfth century. Standing outside the defences, it was more exposed in every siege.
Inside, the cloister keeps capitals carved with biblical scenes, animals and fantastic creatures. The sculptors left a whole world of medieval imagery in the s…
12
The Hill of the Hebrew Gravestones
Look up at the hill rising to the north, across the valley. This is Montjuïc, which in old Catalan means the mount of the Jews. The cemetery of the call's community lay there.
For centuries Girona's Jewish families climbed that slope to bury their dead. The graves had stone markers inscribed in Hebrew: a name, the father's name, sometimes a blessing.
In 1492 came the decree of the Catholic Monarchs. Jews who refused baptism had to leave by the end of July. They sold their houses for pitiful sums and left behind everything they could not carry, their dead included.
The cemetery was abandoned…
How long does the "Girona: the Jewish Quarter the City Hid for Five Centuries" audio tour take?
It has about 21 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 1.75 km walking route (~25 min on foot). Plan roughly 1 h in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Stone Bridge and the City Across the River" (coordinates 41.9837, 2.8243). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Girona and pick "Girona: the Jewish Quarter the City Hid for Five Centuries". No account required to start.
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