Girona Cathedral: A Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque Cathedral in Spain
Site at a Glance
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- 4.6
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- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Crown of Aragon, Spanish
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Cathedral
On this page25 sections
History
Girona Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral in Spain dedicated to Saint Mary and serving as the seat of the Diocese of Girona. Its principal church is Gothic, while the wider complex preserves Romanesque, Renaissance, and Baroque work. The cathedral occupies the religious centre of the Roman settlement of Gerunda, linking the city’s ancient civic history with its continuing role as an episcopal and liturgical centre.
Roman and early Christian origins
Gerunda’s forum and temple stood on the cathedral site or immediately beside it. The temple has been broadly dated to the beginning of the Common Era, and architectural fragments from the Roman complex have been cautiously associated with workshops in Provence. In the fifth century, the temple was converted into a Christian church.
The Diocese of Girona is documented from 516. Evidence from the seventh century indicates that the local cult held a status comparable to those of Toledo and Seville. During Muslim rule in the early eighth century, the church became Girona’s principal mosque. Frankish forces captured Girona in 785, after which the building returned to Christian use and was dedicated to Saint Mary.
A later devotion to Charlemagne grew from traditions surrounding the Frankish conquest, although Charlemagne is not known to have visited Girona. In 834, Louis the Pious granted an immunity privilege that transferred fiscal rights and property to the see. A community of canons was established in 882, and Bishop Wigo consecrated the church again in 908. These records indicate a pre-Romanesque cathedral whose architectural fabric has not survived.
The Romanesque cathedral
Bishop Pere Roger began a new Romanesque cathedral around 1010, replacing the deteriorated earlier church. Before construction of the new building developed, repairs were made to the walls and timber roofs. Funding included the sale of the church of Sant Daniel to Ramon Borrell for 100 ounces of gold. Pere Roger belonged to the comital family of Carcassonne and was related by marriage to Count Ramon Borrell of Barcelona.
Ramon Borrell and Countess Ermessenda supported the project, which was dedicated on 21 September 1038. The Romanesque bell tower had reached its third level by 1050 and was completed during the first third of the twelfth century. The cloister and the buildings used by the canons also developed during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Surviving elements of this cathedral include the Tower of Charlemagne, the cloister, parts of the former canonical dormitory, the sacristy, the altar slab, and the episcopal chair.
Expansion into the Gothic cathedral
Population growth and the limited capacity of the Romanesque church led to plans for a larger building in the late thirteenth century. In 1292, the treasurer Guillem Jofré donated 10,000 Catalan sous to the expansion. Formal Gothic construction began in 1312 with a new eastern end containing an apse, an ambulatory, and nine radial chapels. Enric of Narbonne directed the first works, followed by Jaume de Faveran, Guillem Cors, Pere Campmagre, Francesc Saplana, and Pere Sacoma. The Gothic apse and altar area were completed and consecrated in 1347.
The initial Gothic design called for three naves. Work was suspended while the chapter and architectural experts considered whether the exceptionally broad interior could safely be built as one nave. Consultations took place in 1386 and 1416. In 1417, Bishop Dalmau de Mur and the chapter selected the single-nave design, appointing Antoni Canet as master of the work, with Guillem Bofill also directing the project.
Construction advanced slowly. The first bay of the single nave was covered by 1424, and later work continued under Berenguer Cervià, Joan Balcells, and other masters. The Catalan Civil War, a conflict that disrupted political and social life in Catalonia, interrupted construction between 1460 and 1472. The final stone of the Gothic nave was placed in 1604 during the episcopate of Francisco Arévalo de Zuazo.
For a time, the new Gothic eastern section was joined to the surviving Romanesque western section. Pere Mates represented this unusual arrangement in a painting. The remaining Romanesque western front was demolished in 1604, completing the major transformation of the cathedral’s medieval structure.
Baroque completion and later interventions
The present bell tower was begun around 1580 to replace the functions of the earlier Romanesque towers. Agustí Soriano produced a reduced project in the eighteenth century, and the tower was completed in 1764, when a revolving angel was placed at its summit. That figure was damaged during the Peninsular War, the conflict in which Spain and its allies fought Napoleonic France, and the present angel was installed in 1968. The earlier figure is preserved in the Museum of the History of Girona.
The Baroque west facade began in 1606, restarted in 1680, and was modified by Bartomeu Soriano around 1695. Pere Costa i Cases redesigned it from 1730, and the work continued into the twentieth century. The facade was finished around 1960, with its monumental sculptures installed between 1960 and 1962. Bishop Miquel Pontich oversaw construction of the monumental staircase between 1685 and 1699.
The Apostles’ Portal developed from 1370 under Berenguer Aixuli and Pere Sacoma, with additional work by Berenguer de Cervià. Antoni Claperós received the commission for the apostle sculptures in 1434, and the figures were installed around the 1460s. Violence during the Spanish Civil War caused the loss or destruction of ten of the twelve figures. Saint Peter and Saint Paul survive and are now placed at the entrance to the chapter rooms. The upper archivolts were completed in 1975. On the north side, the Saint Michael’s Portal was begun externally in 1519 under Gabriel Cabot, and work on its upper wall continued at least until 1542.
Wars and periods of religious violence damaged the cathedral’s furnishings and glazing. Ermessenda’s Romanesque altar frontal was lost during the French occupation in 1809, while most of the Apostles’ Portal figures disappeared during the Spanish Civil War. Medieval stained glass was damaged or destroyed in the eighteenth century and restored before that century ended. A late twentieth-century conservation campaign favoured preservation of surviving historic material rather than creative reconstruction. In 2011, the final window in the northern facade was reopened and fitted with an abstract work by Sean Scully.
The earlier nineteenth-century organ, built by Honorat Grinda and Antoni Viladevall between 1827 and 1830, was dismantled during the Spanish Civil War. Salvador Aragonès built the present organ between 1941 and 1944, making it one of the first cathedral organs in Catalonia rebuilt after the war.
Religious and institutional roles
Girona Cathedral has remained the liturgical centre of the Diocese of Girona and is associated with the cults of Saint Mary, Saint Narcissus, Saint Felix, the Four Martyrs of Girona, and Saint Charlemagne. Saint Narcissus is traditionally regarded as Girona’s principal patron saint. The Four Martyrs are Justus, Paulinus, Germanus, and Sicius, whose cult is represented in the cathedral’s martyr chapel.
Bishop Arnau de Mont-rodon established the traditional Charlemagne cult at the cathedral in 1345. Pope Sixtus IV later prohibited it. The cathedral and cloister also served as burial places for bishops, canons, members of comital and noble families, and other prominent figures. Major burials include Count Ramon Berenguer II, Countess Ermessenda, Bishop Bernat de Pau, Bishop Arnau de Mont-rodon, Bishop Bertran de Mont-rodon, Bishop Guillem de Vilamarí, Bishop Pere Rocabertí, Bishop Berenguer d’Anglesola, Arnau Soler, and Dalmau and Bernat de Raset.
The cathedral and its associated historic fabric are protected as a historical monument in Spain and as a Cultural Asset of National Interest in Catalonia. The Spanish national registration dates from 3 June 1931.
Remains
Girona Cathedral stands at the highest point of the historic city, beside the former northern wall and the Roman forum of Gerunda. The historic ground descends approximately 60 metres over 300 metres toward the River Onyar. The cathedral forms part of the Força Vella, and traces of the Roman walls survive near Cathedral Square. The complex combines massive Romanesque masonry, the pointed arches and rib vaults of Gothic construction, and the rich ornament and monumental stairway of the Baroque exterior.
The Gothic church
Single nave
The Gothic nave forms a single space approximately 50 metres long, 22.98 metres wide, and 34 metres high. Its width makes it the widest Gothic nave in the world. Four bays are covered by quadripartite rib vaults supported by bundled wall shafts. Two lateral chapels open from each bay, while independent buttresses absorb the thrust of the vaults and incorporate further chapels. The principal nave zone contains eight chapels on the right and seven on the left.
The lower walls contain chapels and openings, above which runs a reduced triforium, a narrow upper gallery, and a series of large windows with stone tracery. The transition to the eastern end, originally designed for a three-nave church, occurs through a large central triumphal arch and two smaller side arches leading toward the ambulatory aisles. Large dressed stone blocks form the principal construction material.
Apse and chapels
The Gothic eastern end has a semi-polygonal apse with fourteen sides. An ambulatory surrounds it, opening onto nine radial chapels, and two additional chapels occupy the ends of the transept zone. The transept is expressed only lightly in the plan and elevation. Altogether, the interior contains 19 lateral chapels and nine ambulatory chapels.
The vaults carry 78 carved and polychromed keystones. Their subjects include saints and martyrs, apostles, the Coronation of the Virgin, the Catalan-Aragonese arms, the Pantocrator, Saint Peter, Saint Benedict, and the Virgin and Child. Around the main altar, eleven Gothic windows show scenes from the life of the Virgin, with blue and silver-yellow as dominant colours. Other windows depict the Passion, prophets, apostles, and an international Gothic cycle of the Apostles. Antoni Tomàs made the 1437 Apostles window from a design by Ramon Sola, while a Renaissance window showing Sibyls, Evangelists, and Doctors dates from 1520.
Romanesque buildings and sculpture
Tower of Charlemagne
The Tower of Charlemagne is a square Lombard-Romanesque bell tower incorporated into the Gothic cathedral as an exterior buttress. Its seven levels are separated by friezes with Lombard arcuations, or small decorative arches. The lower stages are blind, with narrow slit openings, while the upper levels contain single and paired round-headed windows. Parts of the eastern, western, and southern elevations were lost when the tower became part of the Gothic structure. Its seventh level was restored in 1961.
Romanesque cloister
The Romanesque cloister has a trapezoidal plan shaped by the earlier city wall, the terrain, and adjacent buildings. Four galleries surround its open courtyard, supported by paired columns and alternating piers. The south, east, and west galleries have quarter-barrel vaults. The north gallery has a stronger barrel vault because the cathedral library occupies the storey above it.
Its capitals and friezes carry extensive narrative sculpture. The subjects include episodes from Genesis, the lives of Samson and Jesus, Noah’s Ark, hunting, agriculture, human and animal activity, plants, geometric patterns, and fantastic creatures. Traces of polychromy remain on some reliefs. Arnau Cadell is among the artists associated with the cloister.
Canonical buildings and Roman inscription
The canons’ former dormitory lay east of the cloister. It later became the sacristy and then the cloister chapel. The former refectory on the west was converted into the Chapel of Hope in 1532. The chapter house stood south of the cloister and was incorporated into the Gothic cathedral in the fourteenth century. A first-floor room on the north side has housed the cathedral library since 1395.
A Roman inscription set into the north gallery commemorates Lucius Plotius Asprenas, a high civic official of Gerunda. His wife, Julia Marcia, dedicated the inscription, which probably came from the Roman forum. A blocked opening in the northwest corner bears the words domus canonice, meaning the house of the canons.
Romanesque liturgical furnishings
The Romanesque altar slab is a rectangular piece of white marble approximately 205 by 130 centimetres and about 15 centimetres thick. Its outer moulding has lobed ornament with leaf motifs, and an inscription identifies Bishop Pere Roger. The slab was used at the consecration of 1038 and again when the Gothic altar area was consecrated in 1347.
The Romanesque episcopal chair, known as the Chair or Throne of Charlemagne, is a massive cubic seat carved from Pyrenean marble. It has vegetal ornament, the symbols of the four Evangelists, and semicircular arcading. A Gothic relief on the back shows a bishop accompanied by clergy and acolytes. A contract of 1351 records its manufacture by Aloi de Montbrai.
Baroque exterior and portals
West facade and staircase
The west facade is approximately 41 metres high and 19 metres wide. Its composition resembles a monumental altarpiece, with three horizontal levels and three vertical sections. It includes balconies with stone balustrades, a large rose window, a raised pediment, and seven upper openings. The rose window dates from the early 1730s and contains glazing by Francesc Saladriga showing the Assumption.
Sculptures of Faith, Hope, and Charity are associated with Pere Costa i Cases. Twentieth-century figures of Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint Joseph, Saint James, Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Narcissus, and the Virgin and Child were made by Josep M. Bohigas, Antoni Casamor, Jaume Busquets, and Domènec Fita.
The monumental western staircase has three flights, three landings, side balustrades, and approximately 90 steps. The Chapel of Hope contains the Baroque Litter of the Virgin of August, carved by Lluís Bonifaç between 1773 and 1775.
Apostles’ Portal
The Apostles’ Portal occupies the south side of the cathedral. Its pointed archivolts were completed in 1975. The earlier sculptural programme included twelve apostles and a tympanum relief of the Assumption by Joan Claperós. The surviving Saint Peter and Saint Paul figures are preserved at the chapter rooms rather than on the portal itself.
Saint Michael’s Portal
The Saint Michael’s Portal is on the north side and was begun in 1519. Its exterior masonry continued at least until 1542. Among its archivolts is a carved stone falcon associated with a local legend concerning Ramon Berenguer II.
Bell tower and Stone Witch
The present bell tower is an attached octagonal prism with a spiral stair and a total height of 67 metres. It contains six bells. The oldest is the 1574 Beneta, also called Bombo, which has a diameter of approximately 1.90 metres and weighs about 4,800 kilograms. The quarter bell hangs in the lantern below the angel.
Beside the Tower of Charlemagne, the gargoyle known as the Stone Witch functions as a rainwater outlet. It depicts a woman, and a local legend explains her transformation into stone. The angel formerly placed above the bell tower represented Faith and originally had its eyes covered. The replacement retains the angelic form and wings but lacks the blindfold.
Treasury, tombs, and organ
Manuscripts and textiles
The treasury occupies the former chapter-house and sacristy areas. The Creation Tapestry is an incomplete Romanesque embroidery made with coloured wool on linen. After losses, it measures approximately 4.15 by 3.65 metres. Its central image is the Pantocrator, Christ represented as universal ruler, surrounded by scenes from Genesis, the months and seasons, the year, the rivers of Paradise, the four winds, and the Finding of the True Cross.
The Girona Beatus is a tenth-century parchment manuscript containing a commentary on the Book of Revelation associated with Beatus of Liébana. It is written in Visigothic script and contains 114 miniatures. The priest Senior wrote the manuscript, while Ende and the priest Emeterius illuminated it.
Metalwork and sculpture
The Hisham II casket is a tenth-century gilded-silver box decorated with vegetal motifs resembling the art of the caliphate of Córdoba. Inscriptions identify it as a gift from Caliph Al-Hakam II to his son Hisham II. Its route to the cathedral is unknown.
The treasury also holds a Gothic polychromed alabaster sculpture traditionally called Saint Charlemagne and attributed to Jaume Cascalls. Modern interpretation identifies the figure possibly as King Pere the Ceremonious. Other works include a Renaissance Magdalene altarpiece by Pere Mates, liturgical metalwork, crosses, the sixteenth-century Pearl Cross, the seal of Countess Ermessenda, an eleventh- or twelfth-century boxwood Gospel binding, and the Corpus monstrance by Francesc Artau.
Tombs and commemorative monuments
The Chapel of the Raset Brothers contains the tombs of the archdeacon Dalmau de Raset and the military figure Bernat de Raset. Dalmau’s Gothic-Flamboyant tomb has an inscription, angels, scholars, mourners, and a recumbent image of the archdeacon. Angels are shown carrying his soul heavenward.
Ramon Berenguer II and Countess Ermessenda were first buried in the Romanesque galilee, a western porch used for processions and burials. In 1385, King Pere the Ceremonious ordered their transfer into the Gothic cathedral and commissioned Guillem Morell to create recumbent figures and marble coverings. Ramon Berenguer II appears as a warrior, while Ermessenda is represented in aristocratic dress.
Organ
Salvador Aragonès built the present organ between 1941 and 1944. It has three manuals of 56 notes, a 30-note pedalboard, 31 real stops and 39 effective stops, double expression, and Barker machines. The case was made by the carpenter Serafí Sureda. The instrument replaced the organ dismantled during the Spanish Civil War and belongs to the postwar rebuilding of the cathedral’s musical furnishings.
