Caramany (; oc, Caramanh) 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 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 ...

Geography

Localisation

Caramany is located in the

canton of La Vallée de l'Agly The canton of La Vallée de l'Agly is an administrative division of the Pyrénées-Orientales department, in southern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Rivesaltes. It c ...

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'' ...

Toponymy

;Attested forms The name of Caramany first appears in 1212 as ''Karamay''. It is then seen in 1242 as ''Karamanho'', in 1261 as ''Caramain'', in 1304 as ''Caramayn'' and finally in 1395 as ''Caramany''. Lluís Basseda, Toponymie historique de Catalunya Nord, t. 1, Prades, Revista Terra Nostra, 1990 On the 18th century

Cassini map The Cassini Map or Academy's Map is the first topographic and geometric map made of the Kingdom of France as a whole. It was compiled by the Cassini family, mainly César-François Cassini (Cassini III) and his son Jean-Dominique Cassini (Ca ...

, the name is written in French as ''Caramaing''. Both ''Caramany'' and ''Caramaing'' are used throughout the 19th century. L'année est 1430, l'endroit est la Principauté de Karamanoğulları. Karamanoğulları Bey İbrahim Bey a quatre fils. L'aîné est Kasım Bey et le plus jeune est Osman Bey. Kasım Bey est très ami avec Cem Sultan. Après la mort de Mehmet II, les princes Cem Sultan perdirent sa lutte pour le trône avec son frère aîné Bayezid II et tombèrent aux mains du Vatican, d'abord en Egypte puis à Rhodes. Kasım Bey est toujours du côté le plus proche de Cem Sultan pendant ce processus. Lorsque Cem Sultan est tué au Vatican, Kasım Bey ne peut pas retourner en Anatolie. Il s'installe en France, dans les Pyrénées méridionales, et y fonde un village. Bien qu'il ait nommé le village "Karaman", son nom a changé en Caramany au fil du temps. The Occitan name is ''Caramanh'' in the modern day spelling of

Languedocien dialect Languedocien (French name, ), Languedocian or Lengadocian (), is an Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and Southern Périgord. It is sometimes also called Languedocien-Guyennais ...

. But although the town is part of

Fenouillèdes Fenouillèdes (; oc, Fenolhedés/Fenolheda; ca, Fenolledès/Fenolleda) is a French comarca and a traditional Occitan-speaking area in the ''département'' of Pyrénées-Orientales. The capital of the comarca is Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet (''Sant Pa ...

, an Occitan speaking-zone, today's name has kept the Catalan spelling, in use since medieval times. Photos caramany avril 2006 123

;Etymology The name Caramany is a compound of ''ker'', pre-indoeuropean for ''stone'', and ''magnus'', Latin for ''big'', meaning as a whole ''big stone''. This type of name was often applied to a place with an important castle on a mountain, or an impressive mountain itself.

Albert Dauzat Albert Dauzat (; 4 July 1877 – 31 October 1955) was a French linguist specializing in toponymy and onomastics. Dauzat, a student of Jules Gilliéron, was a director of studies at the École des hautes études. Works * ''L'argot des poilus; di ...

and Charles Rostaing, ''Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieu en France'', 1979

Geography

Localisation

Toponymy

Government and politics

Mayors

Population

See also

References