Our realtor mentioned that our building had served as a prison after the Civil War. I quickly read the historical plaque as we passed by, but in the last few days I have done a bit more reading about our future home. I am piecing together bits from various sources, some in Catalan, so I may be slightly off with some of my facts, but I think I have the basics correct.
Before the war our building was part of the seminary. An open walkway separated our building from the main seminary and church. During the Spanish Civil War this open space was built in and the two buildings were connected and used as a hospital.
Francoist troops arrived in Girona on February 4, 1939 and began to detain people, especially distinguished Catalans. Teachers who were educated at the Generalitat college for teachers were considered especially dangerous for their liberal and democratic ideals and over 500 Catalan teachers and 130 Catalan university professors fled the region. Many went to Mexico or South America and refused to ever return to Spain. Others tried to leave and could not, so their fate was to face prison or death.
Franco's troops needed somewhere to put all of the people, so they quickly turned a local movie theater into a detention center. The former seminary/hospital (our building) became a prison and over 3,000 Catalan people were imprisoned here between 1939 and 1942. Women were also held here for a brief time.
Here is the building when it was a prison:
And this is what it looks like today:
I am not sure what happened to the building after 1942.Was it returned to the seminary? I know the prison was moved out of the city center after 1942, but I am still trying to figure out apartments, but I am curious to know what happened in the years between. I am signing the final contracts this week and will be asking our relator if he knows any information.
You can see the actual church part of the seminary in the photo below. These stairs are gorgeous and this little area is one of the most photographed places in all of Europe.
This is a picturesque spot and I have sipped tea and had lunch at the cafe in this very spot. Our first apartment, which we lived in for a year and a half, was located at the bottom of these beautiful stairs. In my readings I found out that the prisoners were taken from the prison (our building) and marched down these stairs. Trucks were waiting in the plaza at the bottom of the stairs. Prisoners were loaded into the trucks and driven out to the cemetery and murdered. Mass graves were dug in the cemeteries to house the thousands of prisoners killed by Francoist troops. The prisoners knew what would become of them as they left the prison, so these stairs obviously hold a lot of significance. I'll admit, I can't look at them in the same way anymore. It does not make me appreciate the beauty of the spot any less, but I think it is important to understand the history as well.
The entire city fascinates me, but I have to be careful with my questions and probing. Some of these wounds are very fresh for a lot of people and others simply do not want to speak of it. There are also those who supported Franco and don't see what everyone is upset about. I have found that people around my age are more willing to address the things that happened during and after the war. The city hall and the library have tons of things you can look through (documents and photographs) and I hope to do more research as my Catalan improves.
We have had the opportunity to live in some amazing historic buildings during our time in Girona and I am excited for our new space as well. I might burn a little sage before we move in, though.
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