Basilica of Sant Feliu

The Basilica of Sant Feliu stands on the slope just below Girona Cathedral, and its octagonal steeple is one of the most recognisable shapes on the city’s skyline. The site is one of the oldest Christian places in Girona. It began as a Roman burial ground outside the walls, where the martyr Felix, who died during the persecution under Diocletian around the year 303, was buried, and a church grew up over the tomb. Over the following centuries the building was enlarged and rebuilt, and the church that exists today is mostly the work of the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. It once held the role of the main church of the city, before the cathedral took over that position.

The building is a mix of styles. The lower parts, near the apse, retain earlier work from the Romanesque period, while the main body of the church is Gothic, with tall ribbed vaults, and the façade has Baroque additions from the seventeenth century. The tower and its octagonal stone spire, which rise above the old town, are a Gothic design, and the second tower was left unfinished, which gives the front a slightly lopsided look. The stone walls, with their strong, fortress-like quality, face the river and the lanes below.

Inside the church, the interior is quieter than the cathedral, and the atmosphere is intimate. The most important treasures are the Early Christian sarcophagi, carved in marble in Late Antiquity, the late Roman period, which are displayed in the church. They include examples decorated with reliefs of mythological and biblical scenes, and they are among the finest of their kind in Spain, giving a glimpse of the city’s Roman and Late Antique past. The church also has the tombs of Saint Felix and of Saint Narcissus, the bishop and patron saint of Girona.

A well-known local legend concerns Saint Narcissus. According to tradition, when French forces besieged Girona in 1285, swarms of flies came out of his tomb and attacked the invaders, forcing them to withdraw, and the city’s emblem still carries a reference to the flies. The story is part of the city’s folklore and is told to visitors.

The basilica is part of the cluster of sights in the old town, the Barri Vell, and Girona’s Roman and medieval layers are clearly visible here. The steep street leading up to the cathedral begins nearby, and the Onyar River Houses, the Jewish Quarter of El Call, the Girona Art Museum and the monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants are all within walking distance. The church is open at set times, and as it is still a place of worship, some hours are reserved for services, so check before going. A visit takes about twenty minutes.