The history of the **Universitat de Girona (UdG)** goes back to 1446, when King Alfonso V of Aragon founded the General Study. The current incarnation of the university was founded in 1992 after multiple efforts to return higher education to Girona during the second half of the 20th century.
The Les Àligues building, built in the 16th century to house the Estudi General classes, is now the headquarters of the university after being renovated in 1993. It forms part of the university campus in the old town of Girona. The UdG has two other campuses in the city, with buildings in the center and a newly built campus in the southern neighborhood of Montilivi. There is also a technology park managed by the university in La Creueta, on the outskirts of Girona.
There are nine faculties in the university: sciences, economics and business, law, education and psychology, nursing, arts, tourism, medicine and technology, engineering and architecture. The UdG has more than 15,000 students and 1,200 professors and researchers. It offers 14 PhD programs and there are about 800 PhD students enrolled.
UdG students can apply to join the Xoriguers, the university's group of human tower towers. The castellers are a Catalan tradition in which groups group together and climb on top of each other to build human towers. The tradition was certified by UNESCO in 2010 as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Girona is located in the northeast of Catalonia, about 40 minutes from Barcelona by train. It has the Girona-Costa Brava airport, from which flights depart to various European destinations. The city is famous for its gastronomy and is home to El Celler de Can Roca, a restaurant regularly ranked among the best in the world.