Iberians and Romans: the founding of Gerunda

The first dwellers of the Region were the Iberians of the Indigetes tribe, situated in settlements in high points in the area surrounding the present-day Girona. With the arrival of the Romans and their military conflicts, the city of Girona was founded. It was built as an Oppidum (fortified walled space) by military leader and statesman, Pompeu. The new city, called Gerunda, survived thanks to the presence and participation of the former inhabitants of the area (Iberians). The Roman Girona was a defensive city at the entrance of the Vía Augusta road to Hispania and became an important centre in the Region.

The arrival of Christianity and the end of the Roman Girona.

The first documented Christian in Gerunda appeared in 304-305 AD. During this time, Girona did not manage to escape from a very important event: it experienced the reforms of Diocletian (roman reforms that changed the structure of the Imperial government and helped establish the Empire economically and in terms of military strength due to the crisis being suffered), suffered the Germanic raids (4th-5th centuries AD) and at last, saw how the Roman system collapsed for good and a new ruling power, the Visigoths, settled in. With the arrival of the new ruling power, the Church managed to survive and expanded its influence during those years (4th-6th centuries AD).

Medieval Era: Visigoth and Muslim dominance

During this era, the city of Girona formed part of the Visigoth plan. The city was an important place in the Northeast of the Peninsula. Even so, Girona suffered the ruralisation process that all the lands once belonging to the Roman Empire suffered. Girona participated in the Peace revolt (673), in the power struggles between different Visigoth leaders, which is what initiated the decline of the Visigoth rule. Girona was formed by a very powerful and wealthy ecclesiastical organization that strengthened the city.

In the year 711 the Holy War of the Muslims began in the Iberian Peninsula. In the face of the weak organization of the Visigoths, the Muslim expansion was extremely fast. The city was occupied without resistance and suffered no destruction. The city’s leaders accepted the new Muslim rule that imposed a personal and territorial tribute upon them. Construction of a mesquite began and all the assets of the Church and the Visigoth nobles were expropriated. The Muslims were there until 785, the arrival of Charlemagne and the Franks.

Carolingian Girona

For 16 years, Girona was the stronghold of the Carolingian vanguard against Islam, until they conquered Barcelona.

The Carolingian organization turned the city into the county seat. The county was the system used by the Charlemagne administration to organize the new border territories. The maximum representative of the county was the count. It was an appointment awarded by the monarch, without independence and not hereditary. In time, the Catalan counts gained more independence and changed it into a hereditary appointment. The counts gradually dissociated themselves from the Frankish monarchs.

Low-Medieval Period

It was the city’s grandest age of splendour, coinciding with the royal privilege of 1284 which permitted the constitution of a local government, the Jurados de Girona. At the end of the 13th century, Felipe III of France, the Bold, assaulted the city.

The 13th century was the height of the age of splendour for the Jewish community of Girona. In contrast, the following century, the 14th century, was the most decadent age for this community due to its persecution and expulsion from Catalonia and Spain. Today, the Call de Girona (Jewish quarter) is one of the best preserved in Europe and one of Gerona’s tourist attractions.

Early Modern Period

During the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, the city grew and it gradually improved and enlarged the city walls: at the end of the 14th century, king Pedro the Ceremonious ordered a large enclosure to be built around the Roman city and in the 16th century, a wall was built on the other bank of the Onyar which made the birth of the Mercadal district possible. These new defensive constructions would help the city resist the attacks it suffered at the end of the 17th century and beginnings of the 18th by French troops, within the context of the numerous European wars.

Modern Period

The most famous assaults on the city are those propagandized by the Napoleonic army between 1808 and 1809, during which it was known as the “War of the Frenchman”. They took place during May and December of 1809, under the command of the marshals Saint-Cyr, Suchet and Augereau. General Álvarez de Castro was the defender of the Girona Stronghold. This military leader fell ill after seven months of besiegement. The population and the garrison were exhausted. They surrendered to the French army.

The second most important war the city suffered was the Spanish Civil War, which pitted Republicans (champions of the Democratic system that ruled the country) against the Franquistas (Spanish soldiers under the command of General Francisco Franco who wanted to control the country with an Authoritarian regime). After 3 years of war, the 4th of February of 1939, the Franquistas occupied the city of Girona. After 40 years of dictatorship under Franco, Democracy returned to Girona.