Gerona - Cathedral

From the Museum a short flight of steps leads down to the Romanesque cloister, trapezoid in plan, which dates from the 12th century. Some of the figural capitals of the columns are damaged, but they are still remarkable for their variety of subject-matter, including both Biblical themes and scenes from popular life. Under the vaulting are numerous grave slabs. Above the cloister rears the stump of a Romanesque tower, articulated by single and double-arched windows.

On the upper floor of the cloister are a fine collection of richly embroidered vestments. From one of the galleries there is an attractive view of the gardens to the north, the little Romanesque church of San Pedro de Galligans and a fragmentary stretch of the old town walls.

The nave (aisleless) is one of the largest vaulted spaces in Gothic architecture, 50m/165ft long, 23m/75ft across and 34m/112ft high. The apse is considerably lower and, with its ambulatory and ring of chapels, is in accordance with the classical canon of forms. The high altar, under a baldachin, has a gilded retablo, a masterpiece of 14th century silversmith's work. Beyond this is the bishop's throne, a stone seat embellished with friezes of arabesques which is popularly known as the Throne of Charlemagne.

On the north side of the church a doorway gives access to the Cathedral Museum. Among its principal treasures are (in the first room) a Romanesque Virgin (11th-12th C.), strongly esembling the Madonna of Montserrat, and an illuminated manuscript of the "Apocalypse" (975). In the second room are a Late Gothic cross (1503-07) set with pearls and enamel inlays and a 14th century cross with champlevé enamel decoration. In a wall case in Room 3 are silver book covers (14th C.), and in the case in the center of the room a fine collection of 15th Century sculpture. Here too are a Bible which belonged to Charles V (14th C. Italian work) and two fine altar frontals (Nos. 41 and 42), one (14th C.) with gold and silver embroidery, the other (13th C.) with 21 scenes from the life of Christ.

Room 4 contains the finest thing in the museum, a magnificent tapestry (strictly speaking, not tapestry but silk embroidery) depicting the Creation. This 11th century work is based on Early Christian models (as is shown, for example, by the beardless figure of Christ as Creator of the world in the middle of the cycle, surrounded by the Latin text "And God said, Let there be light, and there was light").

The Museum of Art, on the south side of the cathedral, has exhibits ranging in time from the pre-Romanesque period to the early 20th century.