Today a group of students from my program and I took a trip to Girona. Girona is a town about an hour and 20 minutes north of Barcelona by train. It is an important city for a couple of reasons. It was inhabited by Romans then Moors, a medieval Muslim people from Northern Africa, and then finally Catalonian people. Also in 12th century there was a large Jewish community. Therefore the city has the influence of all four cultures mixed into one. There is part of a well preserved Roman wall surrounding part of the old city, equally well preserved ruins of Arab bath houses, a beautiful Catholic Cathedral and the ruins of a Jewish quarter also known as the call. Luckily we got to see all of these things in one day.
To learn more about the Jewish influence a couple of the girls and I took our time in the small but very interesting Jewish museum in town. The most interesting thing I learned was the importance of Girona for Jewish people at the time. One Rabbi that lived in the city was instrumental in the spread of Kabbalah to Spain. From my understanding Kabbalah is a certain set of teachings adapted by this Rabbi and Judaism that is some sort of explanation of the universe. I just thought it was cool to learn that the Jewish community in Girona was that important before their expulsion because it is where this one idea emerged. Also in the museum were many large Jewish tombstones that were discovered in a cemetery outside of town. This cemetery was located on Montjuic. At first this name confused me because there is a Montjuic in Barcelona too but then I realized it translates to “Jewish Mountain” and is used in many places to describe just that. The very odd thing about this cemetery and mountain is its location had many odd religious criteria it had to meet to be suitable burying ground. Those criteria were outside city walls, in uncultivated land, on a slope and near a current of water. This meant the cemetery was a ways outside of the city and for every funeral there was a large procession in which the person and the large tomb were carried on foot to the cemetery. Unfortunately the cemetery was lost when the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, but the tombstones were later found and restored for display.
The ruins of the Arab baths were awesome as well. Basically in was five rooms. First the dressing room, then the cold room, then the warm room, and then the hot room and finally the room in which the oven and boiler were. Basically the water was kept over the burning oven and then ran through the other four rooms and progressively got colder as it got away from the oven. Its was a small a quick walk through but very pretty!
The cathedral was cool but they are starting to all look a little similar. The cool thing about this one was because we were there Sunday morning there was a service in process and the organ was playing. There were also elaborate tombs along the walls. Also there were small models that showed the progression of the church throughout the century which is always cool for me. To the side of the Cathedral there was a small courtyard and museum that had all kinds of religious artifacts. Lots of things for the alters, the hats and robes for the bishops, and lots of art. It was cool to look at but I wish we could have had a tour guide to explain the different things to us.
Lastly we took a stroll up around the Roman walls and got lots of cool views of the whole city. It was a beautiful day and they were awesome views. The wall it self was pretty cool to explore too.
Overall it was a lot of exploring small streets of the old town. It was a nice trip out of Barcelona because we kept saying to ourselves how quiet it was. I think I had not realized until then how loud the city really is all the time. It also helps that 80% of all places are closed on Sundays in Spain. Just a few restaurants open for the tourists. The break from the hustle and bustle of the city was nice and made the city feel a little more authentic.
It is a definite must see for anyone visiting the Catalonia region!
marisaleonebarca 
Very interesting, hija. Is there also a Jewish museum in Barcelona?
I really like all the architectural photos, especially the ones with small details.
You don’t remember but you went to Girona with us when we were in Spain. I have a photo of the river that runs through the city that is very similar to your photo. I also have a photo of you and Marco standing outside the door to the cathedral. It was closed the day we were there. I wish now that we had spent more time exploring the city. Your photos made me want to go again.
I thought we went there… A few key takeaways: There are lots of cathedrals in Spain and the Jews get kicked out of everywhere!