Alénya (; ca, Alenyà) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The village is surrounded by wine fields. Apricot and peach are also grown here.

Geography

Localisation

Alénya covers an area of , with 434 inhabitants per km². It is located about from

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

and borders the municipalities of

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

Canet-en-Roussillon Canet-en-Roussillon (; ca, Canet de Rosselló, ; oc, Canet de Rosselhon, ) is a commune and town in the French department of the Pyrénées-Orientales, administrative region of Occitania. Geography Canet-en-Roussillon is located in the canto ...

, Saint-Cyprien,

Elne Elne (; ca, Elna ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It lies in the former province of Roussillon, of which it was the first capital, being later replaced by Perpignan. Its inhabitants are still called ...

, Corneilla del Vercol,

Théza Théza (; ca, Tesà) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Théza is located in the canton of La Plaine d'Illibéris The Canton of La Plaine d'Illibéris is a French Cantons of France, canton of P ...

, and Saleilles. Alénya has a Mediterranean climate. Alénya is located in the

canton of La Plaine d'Illibéris The Canton of La Plaine d'Illibéris is a French canton of Pyrénées-Orientales department, in Occitanie. At the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015, the canton of La Plaine d'Illibéris was created including 5 commun ...

and in the

arrondissement of Perpignan An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements'' ...

History

Alénya was first inhabited by the

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

and was conquered by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

in c. 121 BC. It was first mentioned in 904 in a document mentioning towns on the

. Before 1214 Alénya was only a small hamlet with little importance. That was the year its first church was built. A second church which still stands today was built in 1593. Among its attractions is a statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

from the fifteenth century.

Government and politics

Canton

In 1790, the commune of Alénya is included into the

canton of Elne The Canton of Elne is a former French canton of Pyrénées-Orientales department, in Languedoc-Roussillon.canton of East-Perpignan in 1801, before being included into the

canton of Perpignan-3 The Canton of Perpignan-3 is a French canton of Pyrénées-Orientales department, in Occitanie. Composition The canton includes the commune of Cabestany and the southeastern part of Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; ...

in 1973 and, finally, into the canton of La Côte Radieuse in 1982. Following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015, Alénya is now part of the

.''Légifrance''
Décret n°2014-262 du 26 février 2014 portant délimitation des cantons dans le département des Pyrénées-Orientales.
/ref>

Mayors

Population

The people of Alénya are called ''Alényanais''.

Sites of interest

* The Sainte-Eulalie-et-Sainte-Julie church, built from 1593. * The Ortaffa medieval house. * The ''Pedra Martina'', a medieval boundary stone. * The ''Pompe Bonne'', an old fountain. * The former castle and Saint-Martin church of Boaça, both medieval and once located to the west of Alénya, were destroyed in 1974 to build a summer camp.

References

Communes of Pyrénées-Orientales {{PyrénéesOrientales-geo-stub