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Girona
A
brief history of Girona.
The first inhabitants in the
region were Iberians; Girona is the ancient Gerunda, a city
of the Ausetani. Later, the Romans built a citadel there,
which was given the name of Gerunda.
The Visigoths ruled in Girona until it was conquered by the
Moors.
Finally, Charlemagne reconquered it in 785 and made it one
of the fourteen original countships of Catalonia. Thus it
was wrested temporarily from the Moors, who were driven out
finally in 1015. Guifre the 1st incorporated Girona into
the countship of Barcelona in 878.
Alfonso the 1st of Aragon declared Girona to be a city in
the 11th century. The ancient countship later became a
duchy (1351) when King Pere the 3rd of Arago gave the title
of Duke to his first-born son, Joan. In 1414, King Ferran
the 1st in turn gave the title of Prince of Girona to his
first-born son Alfons. The title is currently carried by
Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias, the first Borbón to do
so.
The 12th century saw a flourishing of the Jewish community
of Girona, with one of the most important Kabbalistic
schools in Europe. The Rabbi of Girona, known as Nahmanides
or Ramban was appointed Great Rabbi of Catalonia. The
history of the Jewish community of Girona ended in 1492,
when the Spanish monarchy expelled all the Jews from Spain.
Today, the Jewish ghetto or Call
is one of the best
preserved in Europe and is a major attraction for tourists.
On the north side of the old city is Montjuic (or
hill
of the Jews in medieval Catalan), where an
important religious cemetery was
located.
During its
long history Girona has undergone twenty-five sieges and
been captured seven times. It was besieged by the French
royal armies in 1653, again in 1684, and twice in 1694. In
May, 1809, it was beseiged by 35,000 French Napoleonic
troops, and held out obstinately under the leadership of
Alvarez until disease and famine compelled it to capitulate
on the 12th December.
Finally, the French conquered the city in 1809, after 7
months of siege. Girona was center of Ter department during
French rule between 1809-1813. The defensive walls were
demolished at the end of the 19th century to allow for the
expansion of the city. In recent years, the missing parts
of the city walls on the eastern side of the city have been
reconstructed. Called the Passeig
de la Muralla it now forms a free to use
tourist route around the old city.