Onyar River Colored Houses, Girona (must see)
The Onyar River does more than split Girona in two鈥攊t frames one of its most photographed scenes. Lining its banks are the famous colored houses, stacked in ochres, pinks, yellows, and reds, their reflections doubling the spectacle in the water below. They weren鈥檛 designed as postcard material; in the Middle Ages, people simply built where space allowed鈥攔ight on the river鈥檚 edge. Their facelift came much later, when architect Rafael Mas贸 and a handful of local artists chose a palette that turned practicality into one of Girona鈥檚 defining images.
Locals sometimes call them the 鈥淗anging Houses,鈥� as if the buildings were daring you to notice how they cling to the riverbank. Among them sits the Mas贸 House, the birthplace of Mas贸 himself, now preserved as a museum that pulls visitors into his vision of Catalan modernism.
The river doesn鈥檛 just separate buildings; it has long marked a boundary between Girona鈥檚 medieval Old Town on one side and its modern growth on the other. Crossing one of its bridges is a literal step between eras, and few crossings are more famous than the Eiffel Bridge鈥攂uilt in 1877 by the same workshop that later sent an iron tower into the Paris sky.
If you鈥檙e looking for the best view, sunrise and sunset are the golden hours. From the bridges, the houses glow and ripple in the water, and even the most casual stroller turns into a photographer. But these fa莽ades aren鈥檛 only a backdrop; they鈥檙e an introduction. They welcome you into a city where centuries of history cling to the stones as tightly as the houses hug the river.
Locals sometimes call them the 鈥淗anging Houses,鈥� as if the buildings were daring you to notice how they cling to the riverbank. Among them sits the Mas贸 House, the birthplace of Mas贸 himself, now preserved as a museum that pulls visitors into his vision of Catalan modernism.
The river doesn鈥檛 just separate buildings; it has long marked a boundary between Girona鈥檚 medieval Old Town on one side and its modern growth on the other. Crossing one of its bridges is a literal step between eras, and few crossings are more famous than the Eiffel Bridge鈥攂uilt in 1877 by the same workshop that later sent an iron tower into the Paris sky.
If you鈥檙e looking for the best view, sunrise and sunset are the golden hours. From the bridges, the houses glow and ripple in the water, and even the most casual stroller turns into a photographer. But these fa莽ades aren鈥檛 only a backdrop; they鈥檙e an introduction. They welcome you into a city where centuries of history cling to the stones as tightly as the houses hug the river.
Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Girona. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "黑料吃瓜网: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.
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Onyar River Colored Houses on Map
Sight Name: Onyar River Colored Houses
Sight Location: Girona, Spain (See walking tours in Girona)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:
Sight Location: Girona, Spain (See walking tours in Girona)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:
Walking Tours in Girona, Spain
Create Your Own Walk in Girona
Creating your own self-guided walk in Girona is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Girona Introduction Walking Tour
Girona sits in northeastern Catalonia, where every cobblestone seems to gossip about old allegiances and bitter defeats. Long before tourist maps and cafe terraces, Iberian tribes pitched up here in the 6th century BC. The Romans soon followed, stamping the place with the name Gerunda鈥斺�渘ear the river鈥濃�攁 practical nod to the Onyar River, which still slices the city neatly into old and new.
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Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.4 Km or 1.5 Miles
... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.4 Km or 1.5 Miles
Game of Thrones Film Sites in Girona
Let鈥檚 do a visualization exercise: Girona鈥檚 medieval quarter, with its stone staircases and cloistered courtyards, suddenly posing as Westeros. Between 2011 and 2019, HBO鈥檚 Game of Thrones roamed Europe in search of backdrops, and Girona ticked all the boxes鈥擱omanesque towers, Gothic facades, and narrow alleys that looked like they鈥檇 been waiting centuries for a camera crew. The city... view more
Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.8 Km or 0.5 Miles
Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.8 Km or 0.5 Miles