Girona customs
La Lleona[edit]
At the bottom of the steps to the Basílica de Sant Feliu is a column with a lioness statue on top. It’s from the 12th century and has become a symbol of Girona.[1]
According to tradition, you had to climb the column and kiss the lioness’s backside ("el cul de la lleona") to be accepted as a true citizen, or to make sure you would return to Girona.[2]
For many years, people called the animal "la mona" (the monkey), but later the name changed to "la lleona" (the lioness). In the 1990s, they added stairs to help people reach it, but kissing the lioness was stopped because of COVID-19 and restoration work.[3]
In 2015 there was a deadly accident.[4]
The lioness is actually a copy made in 1995. The original is kept in Room 5 of the Girona Art Museum.[5]
