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10 - 18 May 2009 - Girona
Girona Festival of Flowers - Temps de Flors 2009
Parks and gardens offer free admission though monument sites do make a charge. During the festival many public buildings and private gardens are decorated with floral motifs, spaces to which the public are not normally invited within the old quarter of the city open their doors to visitors.
Excerpt from P-O Life (April/May)
Girona is a great mix of historically interesting
old and vibrant lively new, all within easy walking
distance. The Rambla de la Llibertat, a busy market in
medieval times, is still busy and bustling. Get a map
from the Tourist office at no 1 the Rambla. Tree-lined and
relaxing, full of interesting shops, bars, cafes and restaurants,
there is always something going on, something to
see, to buy, to eat or drink. One minute shop opens
into an Aladin’s cave of every conceivable clockwork
and mechanical toy, another has an
amazing display of drinks in which lurk
serpents and bugs, well pickled by the
vividly coloured alcohol they contain.
All the usual armies feature in
Girona’s history so the town has
always been well fortified.
A good place
to get an idea of the layout is from the
Wall Walk. Restored and renovated, a path
allows you to stroll around the top of the ramparts
that enclosed the city in the time of Charlemagne.
The imposing cathedral, approached by a long flight
of wide steps, has grown from the first Romanesque
church built in 1038, through the XIV century church
with three naves, to the present day cathedral
with a single nave, the widest Gothic nave in the
world. Inside is a fascinating museum displaying
the famous XII century tapestry of the Creation,
a stunningly beautiful piece of needlework, as
well as the Beatus, a fantastic illuminated volume
dating from the X century and a rich collection of
medieval gold and silverwork.
And there are many
other Museums: The Museum of Art displaying
the history of art related to the Girona region;
of Archaeology, located in the ancient monastery
of Sant Pere de Gallingants; of
the Cinema, containing one of Europe’s
most important collections; the History
of the City, from pre-history to the present
day; and, the Museum to the History
of the Jews.
Girona is justly famous for its Jewish Quarter. The
buildings in steep alleys bordering the Forca housed
the Jewish community in the middle ages, until, on the
31st of March 1492, Isabelle of Castile and Ferdinand II of
Aragon decided on the expulsion of all Jews from Spain.
Their fate was rapid, cruel and terrible can be studied
at the Bonstruch
Ca Porta Centre
where you will
find the Museum
of the History of the
Jews.
To get the feel of
Girona’s Arab past a visit to
the “Arab Baths” beckons. In fact only the style is Arab, the
Capucine Convent where they are found is a XII century
Romanesque building. Consisting of a octagonal pool, a
Caldarium (hot steam bath), a Tepidarium (warm room)
and a Frigidarium (cold water room), the Frigidarium with
its rustic ring vault and dome resting on slender columns
is the most interesting.
The Onyar is the river running through Girona and
the houses built on its banks from the Middle Ages
onwards are much photographed in all the richness of
their warm Spanish colours reflected in the slow river
water.
For the last fifty or so years, in May, the whole of
Girona covers itself in Flowers. It started as a small
flower show and competition and has grown into a
festival of floral decorations of all shapes and sizes. Huge
numbers of visitors are drawn to the Old City to wander
and enjoy the decorations embellishing the ancient
stones and historic buildings and enjoy the charm and
originality of the artistry. This year the dates will be May
10th-18th.
And for anyone interested in Gardens, Girona’s
Botanic Gardens at Cap Roig, Calella de Palafrugell
must be visited. In 1924 Col. and Madame de Woevodsky
built a castle, planted 40ha with pines and laid out the
garden.
The Gardens run to the edge of the cliffs, glimpses
of turquoise Mediterranean jewel like between
the pines trees. Arrangements of cactus, of iris,
of shrubs and flowering
trees are works of art,
the only danger the
temptation to linger
too long and
miss the plane.
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