Casa Pastors

Standing near Girona Cathedral, Casa Pastors could easily be overlooked among the city’s more imposing medieval landmarks. Its broad stone façade, barred windows and heavy wooden doorway give it the appearance of a restrained civic building. Yet the information panel beside the entrance revealed that this seemingly simple structure contains layers of Girona’s history reaching back to the Roman era.

Parts of Casa Pastors incorporate remains of Girona’s Roman and medieval defensive walls, including elements associated with Montcada Castle and the Sobreportes gateway. Its position near one of the historic entrances to the old city placed it within an area that was repeatedly altered as Girona expanded and strengthened its defenses.

Over the centuries, the building served several different purposes. It was once used as a seminary and later became the residence of the aristocratic Pastors family, from whom it received its present name. During the Napoleonic Wars, when Girona endured a series of sieges, the building related to the city’s defense.

Casa Pastors was eventually acquired by the city and adapted for government use. From 1973 until 2013, it served as Girona’s provincial courthouse. Archaeological investigations have also uncovered evidence beneath and around the property, including remains connected with the medieval church of Santa Maria de les Puelles and the Roman forum.

Nothing about the façade immediately reveals the full story. Its significance lies not in elaborate decoration, but in the way one building preserves traces of Roman fortifications, medieval Girona, an aristocratic residence and the city’s more recent civic life. Stopping to read the panel transformed what first appeared to be an austere stone building into another doorway into Girona’s long and layered past.