Jardins de la Francesca

Eston spent the month of April studying the various legends of Girona. He has been explaining these legends to me as we walk around town and they are super interesting, so I will share one particular legend with you.

Now, keep in mind that he learned these legends at school in Catalan and is translating them to English, so I may be missing a few tidbits here and there.

The cathedral has many gargoyles places in various spots, but none of them are human...except for one. There is a woman and she is wearing a long dress and what looks to be a hood. She is holding something in her hand and when it rains it appears that the water is gushing from her mouth. Now I know why!

Way back when, a Frenchwoman lived in Girona. Her house and surrounding garden was located near the Cathedral, but she was known to the locals for her witchcraft. Yes, she was a witch (Eston whispered this information to me). She despised those who practiced religion, so I am not sure why she chose to live right next door to a church, but that is neither here nor there. The woman would throw rocks at people going to mass as she shouted vulgarities at them. One day she was up to her usual tricks when a soft voice from somewhere said, "pedres tires, pedres tiaras, i de pedra et quedaras." (Stones you throw and stone you shall remain.) And just like that, the witch turned to stone. The local people placed the stone statue high on the cathedral and her body faces the ground. This is particularly significant and locals say it is placed this way so she can no longer insult anyone and only clean water from the clouds comes out of her mouth.

You can go visit her gardens and see where her house once stood. 

Eston pointed out a certain area of the wall and had me put my ear to it. He asked if I could hear it. I concentrated and replied that I had heard a bit of something. He told me it was the witch cackling. His teacher pointed this out to them and I just love it.

Here is the view once inside the gardens/house:

And here is the well with her tears...

There must be more to this part of the legend, but Eston said his class did not discuss it and I couldn't really find anything online. I am going to have to start asking locals. Most of my local friends think I am certifiable and tell me that I know more about Girona than they do. Probably true.

There have been various blurbs written about the garden area. Though beautiful and popular with tourists (one can take excellent photos of the cathedral from the garden), I don't think the energy here is all that great. I have seen a couple of weddings here and my friend Kaitlin even considered this spot for her ceremony, but then I read about this woman and what happened in this spot and I am not sure one wants to have a wedding there. I know it may sound a bit hocus pocus, but oh well. It is a nice place to sit and the kids like playing here, so perhaps we are changing the energy flow with our positive presence.