Girona

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Girona (zhērō´nə) or Gerona (hārō´nä), city (1990 pop. 70,876), capital of Girona prov., NE Spain, in Catalonia, on the Onyar River. There are food, textile, paper, chemical, machinery, and other industries in Girona. The city dates from pre-Roman times, and the old town has preserved its medieval aspect. The Moors ruled Girona, with two interruptions, from 714 to 797. In 1808–9, during the Peninsular War, townspeople heroically resisted the French. The Gothic cathedral (14th–16th cent.) has a nave 73 ft (22 m) wide and a Romanesque cloister.