The Catedral

Towering over a flight of 86 steps rising from Plaça de la Catedral, Girona's imposing cathedral is far more ancient than its billowing baroque facade suggests. Built over an old Roman forum, parts of its foundations date from the 5th century. Today, 14th-century Gothic styling – added over an 11th-century Romanesque church – dominates, though a beautiful, double-columned Romanesque cloister dates from the 12th century. With the world's second-widest Gothic nave, it's a formidable sight to explore, but audio guides are provided.

Highlights include the richly carved fantastical beasts and biblical scenes in the cloister's southern gallery, and a 14th-century silver altarpiece, studded with gemstones, portraying 16 scenes from the life of Christ. Also seek out the bishop's throne and the museum, which holds the masterly Romanesque Tapís de la creació (Tapestry of the Creation); dating from the 11th or 12th century, the tapestry shows God surrounded by the creation of Adam, Eve, the animals, the sky, light and darkness. There is also a Mozarabic illuminated Beatus manuscript, dating from 975.

The Museum of Jewish History

Until 1492, Girona was home to Catalonia’s second-most important medieval Jewish community, after Barcelona, and one of the country's finest Jewish quarters. This excellent museum takes pride in this heritage, without shying away from less salubrious aspects such as Inquisition persecution and forced conversions. You also see a rare 11th-century miqvé (ritual bath) and a 13th-century Jewish house.

Other well-presented displays run through Girona’s Jewish contribution to medieval astronomy, medicine and mathematics, the synagogue, family structure, everyday life, and rituals in the Jewish community and the diaspora. Standout objects include funerary slabs and the original 1492 documents ordering the expulsion of Jews from Spain. Detailed information panels appear in Catalan, Spanish, English and French.

The Monastery

This beautiful 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque Benedictine monastery has a sublime bell tower and a splendid cloister featuring otherworldly animals and mythical creatures on the 60 capitals of its double columns; there are some great architectural features in the church too. Spread across the monastery is the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya–Girona, exhibiting artefacts dating from prehistoric to medieval times, including Roman mosaics, early-Christian sarcophagi and the 4th-century Roman marble Sepulcre de les Estacions (Sepulchre of the Seasons), unearthed from the ruins of Empúries.

The Basilica

Just downhill from the cathedral stands Girona’s second great church the Basilica the Sant Feliu, with its landmark truncated bell tower. The nave is majestic with Gothic ribbed vaulting, while St Narcissus, the city's patron, is venerated in an enormous marble-and-jasper, late-baroque side chapel. To the right of the chapel is the saint's Gothic, 1328 sepulchre (which previously held his remains), displaying his reclining form and scenes from his life including the conversion of women, martyrdom and expelling of an evil genie.

The Tower

Climb to the top of tower Gironella, this old stone tower for a staggering view over Girona.