Collioure (; ca, Cotlliure, ) 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 southern French
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, ...
of
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. ...
.
Geography
The town of Collioure is on the
Côte Vermeille
The Côte Vermeille ( ca, Costa Vermella, meaning "vermilion coast") is a region in the French Departments of France, department of Pyrénées-Orientales on the Mediterranean Coast near the border with Spain. The Côte Vermeille stretches from Arge ...
(Vermilion Coast), in the
canton of La Côte Vermeille
The canton of La Côte Vermeille is a canton of France, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. Its chief town is Argelès-sur-Mer (before 2015: Port-Vendres).
Composition
At the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 20 ...
and in the
arrondissement of Céret
The arrondissement of Céret is an arrondissement of France in the Pyrénées-Orientales department (Northern Catalonia) in the Occitanie region. It has 64 communes. Its population is 129,464 (2016), and its area is .
Composition
The communes of ...
.
Toponymy
Collioure is named ''Cotlliure'' in
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
.
History
There is a record of the castle at "Castrum Caucoliberi" having been mentioned as early as 673, indicating that the settlement here was of strategic and commercial importance during the
Visigoth
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
ascendancy.
Collioure used to be divided into two villages separated by the river Douy, the old town to the south named ''Port d'Avall'' (in French known as ''Le Faubourg'') and the upstream port, ''Port d'Amunt'' (in French known as ''Le Mouré'').
Collioure was taken in 1642 by the French troops of
Maréchal de la Meilleraye. A decade later, the town was officially surrendered to France by the 1659
Treaty of Pyrenees. Because of its highly strategic importance, the town's fortifications, the
Château Royal de Collioure and the
Fort Saint-Elme stronghold, were improved by the military engineer
Vauban during the reign of
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
. Nevertheless, Collioure was besieged and occupied by the Spanish troops in 1793, marking the last Spanish attempt to take the city. The city
was retaken a year later by general
Jacques François Dugommier
Jacques François Coquille named Dugommier (1 August 1738, Trois-Rivières, Guadeloupe – 18 November 1794, at the Battle of the Black Mountain) was a French general.
Biography
Early life
Jacques François Dugommier was born on 1 August 1 ...
.
In 1823, the territory of
Port-Vendres
Port-Vendres (; ca, Portvendres) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, southwestern France.
A typical Mediterranean fishing port, situated near the Spanish border on the Côte Vermeille in southwestern France, Port-Vendres is re ...
became a commune, taking parts from the communes of Collioure and
Banyuls-sur-Mer
Banyuls-sur-Mer (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It was first settled by Greeks starting in 400 BCE.
Geography Location
Banyuls-sur-Mer is located in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the ar ...
.
On 21 January 1870, an exceptional climatic phenomenon occurred in Collioure, as observed by
Charles Naudin
Charles Victor Naudin (14 August 1815 in Autun – 19 March 1899 in Antibes) was a French naturalist and botanist.
Biography
Naudin studied at Bailleul-sur-Thérain in 1825, at Limoux, and at the University of Montpellier from which he gradu ...
at the time; more than of snow fell in one day on the town. Many orchards as well as
cork oak
''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the cores ...
woodlands were damaged.
Government and politics
Mayors
Twin city
*
Soria
Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 (INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial population. ...
,
Castile and León
Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain.
It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Population
Economy
Collioure is the name of an
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...
(AOC) situated around the town, (
Collioure AOC
Collioure is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for French wines situated around the town of Collioure in the Roussillon wine region of France. Red, rosé and a few white wines are produced-the reds from Grenache noir, Mourvèdre, Syrah, C ...
), producing red,
rosé
A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method. ...
and a few white wines.
The ancient terraced vines in the hills behind the town also provide grapes for the apéritif and dessert wines of the (
Banyuls
Banyuls-sur-Mer (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It was first settled by Greeks starting in 400 BCE.
Geography Location
Banyuls-sur-Mer is located in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the a ...
) appellation, which shares its boundaries with the Collioure appellation.
Collioure is also famous for its
anchovies
An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water.
More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...
, and its once-thriving fisheries are referenced in
Mark Kurlansky
Mark Kurlansky (December 7, 1948) is an American journalist and writer of general interest non-fiction. He has written a number of books of fiction and non-fiction. His 1997 book, ''Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World'' (1997), ...
's book ''Salt''.
Culture
As the town has a strong
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
culture, its own motto has been adopted by one of the local Catalan rugby teams (
USA Perpignan
Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, Franc ...
, France): ''Sempre endavant, mai morirem'' (''Always forward, We'll never die''). Under 's leadership, the town has an alternative motto, ''Collioure sera toujours Collioure'' (''Collioure shall always be Collioure'') quoting French singer
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", "Louise", " Mimi", and "Thank Hea ...
's famous song titled ''Paris sera toujours Paris''.
The annual Saint Vincent festival is held around August 15, attracting twice the town's population in visitors for several days of celebration with music and fireworks.
In the early 20th century Collioure became a center of artistic activity, with several
Fauve artists making it their meeting place.
André Derain
André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse.
Biography
Early years
Derain was born in 1880 in Chatou, Yvelines, Île-de-France, just outside Paris. I ...
,
Georges Braque
Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculpture, sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his all ...
,
Othon Friesz
Achille-Émile Othon Friesz (6 February 1879 – 10 January 1949), who later called himself Othon Friesz, a native of Le Havre, was a French artist of the Fauvist movement.
Biography
Othon Friesz was born in Le Havre, the son of a long line of s ...
,
Henri Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...
,
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
,
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdo ...
,
James Dickson Innes
James Dickson Innes (27 February 1887 – 22 August 1914) was a British painter, mainly of mountain landscapes but occasionally of figure subjects. He worked in both oils and watercolours.
Style
Of his style, art historian David Fraser Jenkins ...
and
Tsuguharu Fujita
was a Japanese–French painter and printmaker born in Tokyo, Japan, who applied Japanese ink techniques to Western style paintings. At the height of his fame in Paris, during the 1920s, he was known for his portraits of nudes using an opalesce ...
have all been inspired by
Collioure's royal castle, medieval streets, its lighthouse converted into the church of Notre-Dame-des-Anges and its typical Mediterranean bay. Collioure's cemetery contains the tomb of Spanish poet
Antonio Machado
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz (26 July 1875 – 22 February 1939), known as Antonio Machado, was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation ...
, who fled here to escape advancing
Franco
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
ist troops at the end of the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
in 1939.
The British novelist
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...
lived in the town from 1949 until his death in 2000, and his novel ''The Catalans'' describes Collioure life as it was in the past. He also wrote a biography of Picasso, who was an acquaintance. O'Brian and his wife Mary are also buried in the town cemetery.
The start of
Rose Macaulay
Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel ''The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiritua ...
’s 1950 novel,The World My Wilderness, is set in Collioure.
Part of the action in
Stephen Clarke's fourth comic novel featuring Paul West, ''Dial M for Merde'', takes place in Collioure.
Ninety-eight reproductions of
Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...
’s and
Derain’s works are displayed exactly where these two masters of Fauvism painted the originals in the early 20th century.
Plan de Collioure au 18e siècle.jpg, Map of Collioure (18th century)
Collioure church.jpg, Collioure's church, Notre-Dame-des-Anges
Chateau Royal de Collioure, France.jpg, Château Royal de Collioure
150607-Collioure-01.jpg, Fort Carré
Collioure - La Tour de l' Etoile.jpg, Tour de l' Étoile
Collioure from south-east.jpg, Collioure, seen from the south-east
Notable people
* Nur Ali Sheikh (1928-), Kenyan-born neo-cubist painter who lived in the house depicted by Matisse in his ''View of Collioure''
*
René Llense (1913-2014), football player born in Collioure.
*
Antonio Machado
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz (26 July 1875 – 22 February 1939), known as Antonio Machado, was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation ...
(1875-1939), Spanish poet died in Collioure.
*
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...
(1914-2000), English novelist and translator, lived and was buried in Collioure.
See also
*
Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department
The Pyrénées-Orientales department is composed of 226 communes.
Most of the territory (except for the district of Fenolheda) formed part of the Principality of Catalonia until 1659, and Catalan is still spoken (in addition to French) by a si ...
References
External links
Tourist office websitePhotos of Collioure*
Cotlliure' History and information in Catalan Encyclopaedia.''
{{Authority control
Linguistic rights
Communes of Pyrénées-Orientales
Northern Catalonia
Seaside resorts in France