The legend of Saint Narcissus's flies that saved Girona from French sieges
Saint Narcissus and the Miracle of the Flies. Francesc Joan, 16th century.
During the siege of Girona in 1285, the troops of the French king Philip the Bold desecrated the tomb of Saint Narcissus of Girona, the city's bishop in the 4th century. The next morning an enormous swarm of stinging flies emerged from the ravaged crypt, fell upon the French and their horses, and forced the enemy to retreat.
The legend of the flies guarding the city is supported by other episodes in which the French tried to take the city's fortress. In 1653, during the Thirty Years' War, and in 1684, and again during the Napoleonic invasion of 1808, whenever the French approached the city walls, the assault ended in a great many corpses, outbreaks of plague and flies that rose from the blood-soaked earth.
Thus the local legend took shape: it was the flies, and not the fortunate design of the fortifications or the valiant skill of the defenders, that saved the city every time. Of the 25 sieges, however, 7 did end with the capture of Girona.
