The Girona Art Museum publishes the most complete historical and architectural study on the Episcopal Palace, today home to the Museum and one of the city’s most relevant heritage buildings
- The book The Episcopal Palace. A Thousand Years of History in an Architectural Labyrinth, highlights one of the most powerful and outstanding medieval episcopal palaces in Catalonia, a reflection of the importance of the Girona bishopric itself, and which has reached our days practically unchanged.
- The study, carried out by Girona archaeologists and historians Josep Maria Nolla, Jordi Sagrera and Miquel Àngel Fumanal, with the collaboration of Narcís Soler, reveals the importance of this remarkable building and reveals its transformations while also pointing out the life and activity that it hosted over the centuries.
- The presentation ceremony will take place on Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. in the Throne Room of the Girona Art Museum. It will be curated by former minister and historian Mr. Joaquim Nadal and will be chaired by the Bishop of Girona, brother Octavi Vilà i Mayo, and the general director of Cultural Heritage, Mr. Joaquim Borràs.
The Girona Art Museum will present, on January 11, the most complete historical and architectural study on the Episcopal Palace of Girona, home to the museum and one of the most important buildings in the city. It is the most complete study carried out to date on this important heritage complex, and aims to highlight it as one of the most important medieval episcopal palaces in Catalonia.
Nearly three years have been dedicated to the study of the Episcopal Palace of Girona, the building that has housed the Art Museum since 1976, but which for ten centuries was the residence of the Bishop of Girona and the center of power of one of the richest and largest bishoprics in Catalonia.
The expertise and knowledge of the history of the city of Girona of archaeologists and historians Josep M. Nolla, Jordi Sagrera and Miquel Àngel Fumanal has been key to dissecting every corner of the old palace, analyzing the mural walls, the openings, shields, growths and transformations of each of the parts of this complex building; at the same time, it has deepened and brought to light all the archival documentation linked to the palace and has even included specific archaeological surveys that have finally revealed the unique history of the monument.
The publication, in a deluxe edition of nearly 250 pages, incorporates detailed and explanatory drawings of each of the parts of the complex and a few drawings, made by Jordi Sagrera, that recreate different visions of the episcopal palace at different historical moments. With these descriptive elements it is easier to understand the evolution, growth and transformation that the palatial complex underwent over time. However, it also allows us to confirm that it has reached our days preserving quite well what the image of the palace should have been in the 12th-13th centuries, a fact that today allows us to affirm that it is one of the best preserved medieval episcopal palaces in the Catalan territory.
The work is structured in two large sections. The first is dedicated to a recapitulation of previous studies and a careful description of the building; and a second large section that goes through the transformations over the centuries, from a primitive palace of the 9th and 10th centuries to the present day. The publication concludes with an epilogue, edited by Narcís Soler, first director of the Girona Art Museum and who was present at the important renovation works that were carried out to convert the episcopal residence into a museum. And, at the end, it includes notes, bibliography and a complete documentary appendix. The design and layout of the publication, edited by Maria Palahí d’Ambdues, also incorporates detailed images, plans and photographs of the entire complex taken by drone.
The study and publication has been promoted by the Girona Art Museum, which has set as one of its strategic lines the enhancement of the entire building as another element of the visit. On the other hand, this study must allow the reform and improvement actions of the Museum’s spaces, the current ones and those that are still pending opening to the public, to be undertaken carefully and respectfully with the history and architecture of the complex. The intention is that this publication will be the basis for a whole series of dissemination projects planned for the future around it, some of which are embedded within the concept of Girona Episcopal.
The public presentation of the book, in an open and free event, is scheduled for next Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 12 noon, at the Museu d’Art de Girona- Palau Episcopal, and will be curated by H. Sr. Joaquim Nadal. It will feature the participation of its authors and the presidency of the Excm. and Rvdm. Bishop of Girona, fra. Octavi Vilà i Mayo and of Mr. Joaquim Borràs, general director of Cultural Heritage of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
The publication can be purchased at the Girona Art Museum itself, online through the bookstore of the Generalitat de Catalunya, as well as in all bookstores, especially those in Girona.