Wolf Street

Many years ago, the street Pujada del Rei Martí was known as Wolf Street.
Legend says that many centuries ago a very hungry wolf from the Saint
Daniel Valley attacked and killed an altar boy carrying a cross at the front of
a procession going from the Cathedral to Saint Galligans. There is a stone
marker on one of the buildings that shows a hand carrying a cross. This is
the place where the brutal attack occurred. Hundreds of years ago, the
original street was lower, so the doors we see now were in reality the
balconies of the buildings. After various inundations, the streets were raised
in 1750.

Saint Narcis´ Housekeeper

This is a new legend, created in the 1970s, by Carles Vivó. Saint Narcis´
Housekeeper was the great aunt of Saint Afra. Although she was more than
100 years old, she looked very young, with beautiful, soft skin. She was
extremely fat, very proud and a big gossip. She liked to dress extravagantly
and she was a great cook. She had magical powers and, one day when she
became very angry, she filled all the churches in Girona with coloured
spiders and spider webs. But one day, after she told a rumor about Saint
Narcis, the saint eliminated her powers. People began to laugh at and make
fun of her and they threw their leftover food at her. But one day, the
housekeeper had a vision and predicted Saint Narcis and Saint Felix´s tragic
deaths, victims of martyrdom because of their religion. When her sad
premonitions came true, the housekeeper became more humble and
dedicated her life to taking care of the ill and helping people in need.

The Cathedral Witch

The legend says that there was a witch in Girona who threw stones at the
Cathedral. Other versions of the legend say that she threw stones at the
people who attended the processions. In any case, her obsession was to
attack religious symbols. One day, when she was about to throw a stone, a
voice echoed in the entire city: “If you throw stones, stones you will throw, in
stone you will become.” The witch was then converted into a stone gargoyle
and placed at the highest part of the wall, next to the Carlemany tower,
facing the ground, so the only thing to come out of her mouth is clean water
from the sky to purify her and no bad words or expressions. She is the only
human gargoyle of the Girona Cathedral.

“Banyeta”

On the corner of a building at the Wine Square (Plaça del Vi), we can find a
stone figure which represents the head of a demon. His name is Banyeta.
The local tradition says that many years ago, in the Medieval Ages, there
was a market in this square and there was a money lender who had a stand
in the market. This man took more and more money from the people until
one day he was converted into a stone figure in the place where he had his
market stand. The legend says that he is watching the citizens of Girona to
make sure that they pay their taxes!

The Rambla Vampire

Another famous and mysterious stone figure in the city is the Rambla
Vampire. This stone vampire is found under one of the arches of the Rambla.
It is a small head of a man with a long beard and the wings of a bat. In
reality, this character is a romantic figure, similar to a small cupid. According
to tradition, the Rambla Vampire likes to use his powers to make the citizens
of Girona fall in love. If a boy or girl brings the person they like under the
figure of the vampire and are able to get this person to give them a present,
the vampire will make sure that they fall in love.

The ¨Tarlà” of Argenteria Street

The ¨Tarlà” is a doll –dressed as a minstrel–, hanging and spinning from a

bar. The legend says that many years ago there was a small outbreak of the
plague, a very contagious disease, at Argenteria Street. Because of this, the
street was placed in quarantine and closed at both ends so as not to infect
the rest of the city. During this time, people were sad and bored and they
were isolated from the rest of the city. So a neighbor popularly called Tarlà
decided to cheer up his neighbors by jumping and doing somersaults in the
middle of the street, similar to circus acrobats. To remember this friendly
character, a doll was later built to imitate his movements.

The Lioness´ Bottom

During many years, a stone column with a lioness climbing at the top was
placed at Calderers Street. No one knows exactly its meaning, but people
think that it was publicity for the “Lioness Hostel.” The hostel was well
situated because it was at the entrance of the city and all travelers coming
to Girona from France stopped there. A part of the column was built into the
street, making it easy for people to touch the animal´s bottom. This citizen
ritual –touching the lioness´ bottom– became part of the city law and
guaranteed that the people who touched it would stay in Girona or would
return to the city in the future. The statue clearly shows a lion –not a
lioness–, and for many years people confused the animal with a monkey,
maybe because it was easily climbing a column. Later, people associated
the animal with a lioness. The original statue is in the Girona Museum of Art,
so the one we see nowadays is a very good reproduction of the original
column.

Saint Narcis Flies

The miracle of the flies took place in September 1286, when the army of the
King of France, Philip the Fair, attacked Girona with the motive of his dispute
with King Pere of Aragon. Although the city surrendered without a fight, the
French behaved terribly when they entered the city: they stole; they insulted
and oppressed the people; they attacked churches and laughed at the
religious objects and finally, they profaned the incorrupt body of Saint
Narcis, which was kept in the church of Saint Felix, breaking his arm. Huge
flies started to come out from the body, furiously biting the French soldiers
and their horses. And after being bitten, the enemies died. Later, in 1653,
when the French attacked Girona, again the flies came out of the body of the
patron saint of the city; this time, however, they only bit the horses of the
attackers, causing the death of two thousand of them. In 1684, when the
French came back again to attack Girona, the patriotic insects came back to
bite the soldiers as well as the horses, causing many deaths.

Saint Narcis´ Footprint

According to the legend, Saint Narcis lived in a big house between Mosques
Street and Pou Rodó Street. More and more people were becoming
Christians and the Roman Empire didn´t like this. Emperor Dioclecius
ordered the last great persecution against the Christians, during which Saint
Narcis died as a martyr. During one of these persecutions, Saint Narcis
thought of an escape route in order to trick his pursuers. He jumped out of
the window, but at the same time it occurred to him to leave a footprint
facing the opposite direction, so that it appeared that he had entered the
house and not gone out of it. This gave the saint time to hide somewhere
else. After that, the footprint remained on the window sill.