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But most especially, there is a little chunk of real estate in the heart of Girona that, until recently, no one even knew existed. The tale of its disappearance and subsequent rediscovery is one of the most poignant stories in modern archeology. On the day
of my visit to Girona, the town was celebrating the Feast of Catalonia’s
patron saint, St. Jordi the Dragon Slayer, April 23, the day when Catalonians
traditionally exchange love tokens — a book for the man, a rose for the
lady. Gironans of every stripe were out in the streets to buy gifts for
loved ones. The spring weather was perfect for strolling among the
temporary stalls stationed along the pedestrian avenue, the Rambla de la
Llibertat, admiring roses beribboned with the red and yellow stripes of
the Catalonian flag, or browsing through the books while dodging the lines
of school children, each child clutching a rose for someone dear. I was
having difficulty staying with my tour group and felt little anticipation
for the dusty attractions of the old quarter to which our guide was leading
us.
Our young guide seemed very eager. “Come this way,” she repeatedly urged, gesturing with her hand. “Come, you will want to see this.” Her breathless eagerness was compelling, driving the group along in spite of its stubborn tendency to drift. Soon we had left behind the sounds and colors of modern Girona and entered the solemn shadows of the city’s medieval past. Like most walled
cities, medieval Girona was a small town by today’s standards, covering
an area equal to a large shopping mall. Imagine narrow streets and alleys,
market squares, and church courtyards lined with tall narrow houses and
ground floor shops with shared walls and overlapping roofs: all of this
crammed within the encircling wall. Now imagine an even smaller community
tucked within the larger one, with its own narrow lanes and courtyards,
schools, places of worship, hospital, and commercial enterprises. This
is where our guide was leading us, and, as we trotted along beside her,
she told the story of what we were about to see: Girona’s ancient Jewish
Quarter, El Call.
“And here we are,” announced our guide, beckoning the group though a door. We entered the Museum of the History of the Jews through the museum shop, a small room stocked with Judaic books and artifacts. While our eyes adjusted to the dim light, our guide invited us to look around the museum before meeting her again in the inner courtyard. The group dispersed.
I wandered alone up a few steps and entered a most unusual gallery. The
floor of the room was made of clear Plexiglas embedded with colorful wildflowers
and blades of green grass. The floor, which is lit from beneath, gives
the visitor an illusion of walking across a sunlit meadow. The indirect
lighting around the walls and ceiling cast a reverent glow over rows of
gravestones that stand on the floor and in niches within the walls.
Another set of steps took me to a second level lined with paintings and sculptures that bespoke of the universal Jewish experience. My overall impression of this exhibit was “spare”: the museum never strives to overwhelm. I exited the gallery through an archway into an inner courtyard, the vine covered Bonastruc ça Porta, where I rejoined the guide and my tour group. It was time to hear the rest of the story. For nearly 500 years, the call was sealed off as Gironans built over and around it, obliterating the Jewish quarter from living memory. Beneath the bricks and behind the walls, the remnants of El Call lay secretly silent. Finally, in the 18th century, people began to relocate to the new part of town, and the old town fell into decay. Later, in the 1970s, it became fashionable to build homes on the hills surrounding the old town, and from there people eventually restored the more ancient homes and moved back into the medieval quarter. During this time, Jose Tarres, a restaurateur, acquired a group of eleventh-century buildings near the 15th century Cathedral that still dominates the old city. While preparing for the restoration of his property, he discovered the remains of a medieval yeshiva, a school of Torah studies, founded, as it was later discovered, by Rabbi Moses ben Nachman also known as Nahmanides, a renowned philosopher, Talmudist, and Kabbalist of the 13th Century. One can only imagine the moment of this unexpected discovery. “Oh … my… God! What have we here?” Tarres, who has been describe as a “kind of poet,” became convinced that he was living in what was once a Jewish enclave. Without any other historical evidence, he set the Star of David in the middle of his new patio floor and began to spread the word of his discovery. No one believed him. “What? A Jewish quarter in the heart of Girona? Never.” Interestingly, small groups of Jewish scholars had long known that medieval Girona was an important center of Jewish learning and mysticism. The mystical writings of Rabbi Nachmanides are world-renowned to this day, but the Gironans were unaware of his connection to their city. And since Franco’s time, during which the history of Catalonia ceased to be taught, the city was plunged into an even deeper unawareness — unawareness so deep that even the late 18th century discovery of over twenty Jewish tombstones atop a local hill failed to arouse curiosity. But that was
about to change. Now that the old town had become desirable real
estate, property owners, began pulling up bricks and tearing down walls
that had locked away hidden buildings and streets. Soon the emerging evidence
could no longer be denied. Girona had a Jewish heritage of which it knew
nothing.
Today the excavations continue while the museum serves as an important center for Jewish studies and cultural preservation. Our young guide pointed to a high window that looked down on the patio in which we stood. There, she explained, Jewish scholars from all parts of the world come to study ancient parchments that have been hidden for centuries within the bindings of old books. The careful deconstruction of these old bindings is still in progress and will no doubt continue for years to come. During the summer months, performances of Jewish music and dance take place within the courtyard. Children come to the courtyard on warm evenings to hear Jewish folktales. “Do you have many Jewish families in Girona today,” asked one member of my group. Our guide’s eyes widened as she shook her head. “Oh, no,” she replied with a sincere note of regret. “They all left you see. And they never came back.” I, who am neither Jewish nor an historian, was moved by the guide’s simple response. It evoked images of a distraught people leaving their homes; their buried loved ones, their mystical community, never to return. A time of loss beyond measure it was, so long ago, so long forgotten, and now once again remembered. Today, Gironans are demonstrably proud of this archeological treasure and, to the benefit of many, eagerly share its riches with scholars and tourists alike. Visiting Hours The museum is open every day but Jan. 1 and 6, and Dec. 25 and 26. Summer hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday and holidays. Address: Carrer Forca 8, POB 450, 17080 Girona, Spain. Museum phone and fax: 34-972-21-67-61. On the Net: www.ajuntament.gi (Centre Bonastruc ca Porta) and www.redjuderias.org. E-mail: callgirona@grn.es or e-mail: friendsgirona@aol.com. How To Get There From Barcelona by car you take the A7, Exit 7. Calculate about 18 Euros for tolls. The bus leaves from Barcelona’s Nord and costs 20 Euros. The Ca2 train to Girona departs every hour. To explore other parts of the Costa Brava you can rent a car at the train station in Girona, or you can travel by train that stops at all the cities along the coast. A Spain Flexipass costs $175 for second class and $225 for first class for three days of travel within a two-month period. Rail and Drive versions are also available. Rail passes must be bought in the United States before traveling to Europe. (Rail Europe: 888-382-7245, www.raileurope.com). Where To Stay Hotel Carlemany
Provides comfortable and contemporary accommodations with all the amenities. The hotel is within walking distance to the shops and the Old Quarter. Doubles about $133 - $150. Breakfast buffet, $12. To contact
S.A. Click Here
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