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
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
a few kilometres from the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
and the
scrublands of the
Corbières massif. It is the centre of the
Perpignan Méditerranée Métropole
The Communauté urbaine Perpignan Méditerranée Métropole is the '' communauté urbaine'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Perpignan. It is located in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, in the Occitanie region, southern F ...
metropolitan area.
In 2016 Perpignan had a population of 121,875 (''Perpignanais(e)'' in French, ''Perpinyanés(a)'' in Catalan) in the commune proper, and the metropolitan area had a total population of 268,577, making it the last major French city before the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
border. Perpignan is also sometimes seen as the "Entrance" of the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
.
Perpignan was the capital of the
former province and
County of Roussillon
The County of Roussillon ( ca, Comtat de Rosselló, , la, Comitatus Ruscinonensis) was one of the Catalan counties in the Marca Hispanica during the Middle Ages. The rulers of the county were the counts of Roussillon, whose interests lay both n ...
(''Rosselló'' in Catalan) and continental capital of the
Kingdom of Majorca in the 13th and 14th centuries. It has preserved an extensive old centre with its ''bodegas'' in the historic centre, coloured houses in a series of picturesque streets and alleys stretching between the banks of the
Têt and its tributary, the Basse.
The city is also known for its International Photojournalism Festival, its medieval Trobades and its centuries-old
garnet industry.
Geography
Location
Perpignan is located in the center of the Roussillon plain, 13 km west of the Mediterranean coast. It is the southernmost of the cities of
metropolitan France
Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...
.
File:Map commune FR insee code 66136.png, Map of Perpignan and its surrounding communes
File:Perpignan Pyrenees-Orientales.png, Location within the Pyrénées-Orientales ''département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
''.
Hydrography
Perpignan is crossed by the largest river in Roussillon, the
Têt, and by one of its tributaries, the Basse. Floods have occurred, as in 1892 when the rising of the Têt in Perpignan destroyed 39 houses, leaving more than 60 families homeless.
Climate
Perpignan has a typical
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''Csa'') similar to much of the Mediterranean coastline of France. One might expect rain to be rare in the city, but in fact the annual precipitation levels are similar to the national average. However, the city is known for its patchy rains, with weeks or even months of rain falling in a matter of hours, followed by weeks and weeks without a drop of water. Perpignan experiences very hot summers and fairly mild winters. For decades, there has been no snow most of the time and temperatures can reach 40 °C (104 °F). Most of the precipitation occurs in the cold season, with extremely dry summers. A fresh north-westerly wind often blows, the Tramontana (French: Tramontane, pronounced
ʁamɔ̃tan, keeping the sky clear much of the time, resulting in high annual sunshine. But the presence of this wind makes winters colder than they should be from the geographical position of the city.
Transport
;Roads
The
A9 motorway connects Perpignan with Barcelona and Montpellier.
;Trains
Perpignan is served by the
Gare de Perpignan
Perpignan station ( French: ''Gare de Perpignan)'' is the railway station serving the city of Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, Occitanie, southern France. Part of the station was decorated in the style of Salvador Dalí, for whom t ...
railway station, which offers connections to Paris, Barcelona, Toulouse, and several regional destinations.
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...
proclaimed the station to be the "Cosmic Centre of the Universe" after experiencing a vision of
cosmogonic ecstasy there in 1963.
;Airport
The nearest airport is
Perpignan–Rivesaltes Airport.
Toponymy
;Attested forms
The name of Perpignan appears in 927 as ''Perpinianum'', followed in 959 by ''Villa Perpiniano'', ''Pirpinianum'' in the 11th century, ''Perpiniani'' in 1176. ''Perpenyà'', which appears in the 13th century, is the most common form until the 15th century, and was still used in the 17th century. It probably derives from the Roman name ''Perpennius''.
History
Though settlement in the area goes back to
Roman
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 ...
times, the medieval town of Perpignan seems to have been founded around the beginning of the 10th century. Shortly afterwards, Perpignan became the capital of the counts of
Roussillon. Historically, it was part of the region known as
Septimania. In 1172 Count
Girard II bequeathed his lands to the
Counts of Barcelona
The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality ...
. Perpignan acquired the institutions of a partly self-governing
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 1197. French
feudal rights over Roussillon were given up by
Louis IX
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...
in the
Treaty of Corbeil.
When
James I the Conqueror
James I the Conqueror ( es, Jaime el Conquistador, ca, Jaume el Conqueridor; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 127 ...
, king of
Aragon and count of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, founded the
Kingdom of Majorca in 1276, Perpignan became the capital of the mainland territories of the new state. The succeeding decades are considered the golden age in the history of the city. It prospered as a centre of cloth manufacture, leather work, goldsmiths' work, and other luxury crafts. King
Philippe III of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
died there in 1285, as he was returning from his unsuccessful
crusade against the
Aragonese Crown
The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...
.
In 1344
Peter IV of Aragon annexed the Kingdom of Majorca and Perpignan once more became part of the County of Barcelona. A few years later it lost approximately half of its population to the
Black Death. It was attacked and occupied by
Louis XI of France in 1463; a violent uprising against French rule in 1473 was harshly put down after a long siege, but in 1493
Charles VIII of France, wishing to conciliate
Castile in order to free himself to invade
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, restored it to
Ferdinand II of Aragon.
Again
besieged and captured by the French during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
in September 1642, Perpignan was formally ceded by Spain 17 years later in the
Treaty of the Pyrenees
The Treaty of the Pyrenees (french: Traité des Pyrénées; es, Tratado de los Pirineos; ca, Tractat dels Pirineus) was signed on 7 November 1659 on Pheasant Island, and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635.
Negotiations were ...
, and thereafter remained a French possession.
In June 2020, it was reported that the National Rally's
Louis Aliot
Louis Aliot (; born 4 September 1969) is a French politician, a lawyer by profession, and the vice president of the National Rally (previously named National Front) since 16 January 2011. A member of the FN Executive Office, Executive Committee a ...
won the mayor election in Perpignan. it would be the first time that the
Marine Le Pen's party has won a city of more than 100,000 people.
Government and politics
Mayors
International relations
;Twin towns – sister cities
Perpignan is
twinned with:
;Partner towns
Education
More than 10 000 students from 2 to 12 years old attend 61 preschools and primary schools in the city. Perpignan also has 26 highschools.
Population
Culture
Since 2004, the free three-day ''
Guitares au Palais'' is held each year in the last weekend of August in the
Palace of the Kings of Majorca. The festival has a broad mainstream focus with pop-related music as well as traditional acoustic guitar music and alternative music. The festival has attracted international guests like
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...
(2007), ''
Rumberos Catalans'',
Pedro Soler,
Bernardo Sandoval,
Peter Finger, and
Aaron and Bryce Dessner
The National is an American rock band of Cincinnati, Ohio natives, formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1999. The band consists of Matt Berninger (vocals), twin brothers Aaron Dessner (guitar, piano, keyboards) and Bryce Dessner (guitar, piano, ...
(2008).
Each September, Perpignan hosts the internationally renowned
Visa pour l'Image festival of
photojournalism. Free exhibitions are mounted in the Couvent des Minimes, Chapelle des Dominicaines and other buildings in the old town.
In 2008, Perpignan became Capital of Catalan Culture. In Perpignan many
street name signs are in both
French and
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 ...
.
Sport
Like the rest of the south of France, Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
side,
USAP Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the global elite
Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the French
Top 14
The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...
(most recently in
2009). They play at the
Stade Aimé Giral.
A Perpignan-based
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
club plays in
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Super League under the name
Catalans Dragons
The Catalans Dragons (French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from outs ...
. The Dragons' games in Perpignan against the Northern English-based sides are usually very popular with British rugby fans, with thousands of them descending on the city on the day of the game, including many vacationing rugby fans travelling up from the Spanish
Costa Brava joining the ones who came directly from home. The club was founded in 2000 as the merger of
XIII Catalan
XIII Catalan is a rugby league team from Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of southern France. They were founded in 1934, and thus were founding members of the French rugby league championship. In 2000 their senior team merged with n ...
with nearby neighbours
AS Saint Estève
As, AS, A. S., A/S or similar may refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer
* "As" (song), by Stevie Wonder
* , a Spanish sports newspaper
* , an academic male voice ...
to form
Union Treiziste Catalane. The club is based at
Stade Gilbert Brutus. The youth teams reformed as
Saint-Estève XIII Mavericks, while a
French top league semi-professional club was retained under the name
Saint-Estève XIII Catalan
Saint-Estève XIII Catalan who were previously called Union Treiziste Catalane or UTC for short are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Perpignan in the region of Pyrénées-Orientales in the south of France. Founded in 2000 after a me ...
; both play at the
Stade Municipal in the in
Saint-Estève suburb.
The local
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
team is
Canet Roussillon FC, there is also an
Australian rules football club
Perpignan Tigers and
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
club
Grizzlys Catalans.
The
Roussillon Grand Prix was a
Grand Prix motor racing event that was held between
1946 and
1949 in the
streets
Streets is the plural of street, a type of road.
Streets or The Streets may also refer to: Music
* Streets (band), a rock band fronted by Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh
* ''Streets'' (punk album), a 1977 compilation album of various early UK punk ba ...
of Perpignan.
Economy
Traditional commerce was in wine,
olive oil, corks (the
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 core ...
''Quercus suber'' grows in Perpignan's mild climate), wool, leather, and iron. In May 1907 it was a seat of agitation by southern producers for government enforcement of wine quality following a collapse in prices.
JOB rolling papers are currently manufactured in Perpignan.
Sites of interest
The
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was begun in 1324 and finished in 1509.
The 13th century
Palace of the Kings of Majorca sits on the high citadel, surrounded by ramparts, reinforced for
Louis XI
Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII.
Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...
and
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infa ...
, which were updated in the 17th century by
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 Ver ...
's military engineer
Vauban.
The walls surrounding the town, which had been designed by
Vauban, were razed in 1904 to accommodate urban development. The main city door, the
Castillet is a small fortress built in the 14th century, which has been preserved. It had also been used as a prison until the end of the 19th century.
The
Hôtel Pams is a lavishly-decorated mansion designed for
Jules Pams that illustrates the artistic taste of the wealthy bourgeois at the turn of the 20th century.
Les Halles de Vauban are a new addition to the banks of the city's canal. Opened in November 2017 the indoor markets are privately owned and cost €1.5 million. Split into two locations, vendors offer fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, flowers, cheese, etc. There is a bar and central eating court with a range of tapas, burgers, omelettes and food from around the world.
Notable people linked to Perpignan
*
Paul Alday Jérôme Paul Bonaventure Alday (c.1763 – 1835) was a French violinist, composer and music publisher who spent most of his active career in Dublin, Ireland. He was the only composer in early 19th-century Ireland known to have written symphonies.
...
(c.1763–1835), violinist, composer, and music publisher
*
Anna Maria Antigó (1602–1676), abbess
*
François Arago (1786–1853), physicist, astronomer, and liberal politician
*
Alexandre Artus (1821–1911), composer and conductor
*
Amédée Artus
Amedée Urbain Louis Henry Joseph Artus (28 October 1815 – 26 March 1892) was a 19th-century French conductor and composer, author of more than eight hundred incidental music pieces.
Born in Perpignan, Amédée Arthur was the son of Joseph P ...
(1815–1892), composer and conductor
*
Frédérick Bousquet
Frédérick Bousquet (, born 8 April 1981 in Perpignan) is a retired freestyle and butterfly swimmer from France. He was the holder of the world record in the 50 m freestyle in a time of 20.94 in long course, set on 26 April 2009 at the fin ...
(born 1981), freestyle and butterfly swimmer
*
Robert Brasillach
Robert Brasillach (; 31 March 1909 – 6 February 1945) was a French author and journalist. Brasillach was the editor of '' Je suis partout'', a nationalist newspaper which advocated fascist movements and supported Jacques Doriot. After the libera ...
(1909–1945), fascist author and journalist
*
Eugène Collache
Eugène Collache (29 January 1847 in Perpignan – 25 October 1883 in Paris) was French Navy officer who fought in Japan for the ''shōgun'' during the Boshin War.
Arrival in Japan
Eugène Collache was an officer of the French Navy in the 19t ...
(1847–1883),
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
officer who fought in Japan
*
Mary Elmes (1908–2002), Irish aid worker
*
François de Fossa (1775–1849), classical guitarist and composer
*
Jean-Luc Escayol (born 1972), footballer
*
Christian Andreu
Christian Roger Andreu (born November 15, 1976) is a French musician best known as the lead guitarist of metal band Gojira, and was guitarist on a Familha Artús album.
Music
Christian Andreu's influences include bands such as Death, Metallic ...
(born 1976), guitarist
*
Jacques-François Gallay (1795– 1864), French horn player and composer
*
Philippe Georget (born 1962), novelist
*
Louise Labé (1524–1566), Lyons poet of the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
*
Aristide Maillol
Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French Sculpture, sculptor, Painting, painter, and printmaking, printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford ...
(1861–1944), sculptor and painter
*
André Marty
André Marty (6 November 1886 – 23 November 1956) was a leading figure in the French Communist Party (PCF) for nearly thirty years. He was also a member of the National Assembly, with some interruptions, from 1924 to 1955; Secretary of Comintern ...
(1886–1956), communist leader
*
Menachem Meiri
Menachem ben Solomon Meiri or Hameiri (1249–1315) was a famous Catalan rabbi, Talmudist and Maimonidean.
Biography
Menachem Meiri was born in 1249 in Perpignan, which then formed part of the Principality of Catalonia. He was the student of Rab ...
(1249–c.1310), Catalan rabbi, Talmudist, and
Maimonidean
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
*
Isabelle Pasco
Isabelle Pasco (born 25 April 1966) is a French actress and model.
Pasco was born in Perpignan. She began her career as a model, modelling for photographers including: Paolo Roversi; Peter Lindberg; David Lachapelle; Helmut Newton; Antony Arm ...
(born 1966), actress
*
Hyacinthe Rigaud
Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra (; 18 July 1659 – 29 December 1743), known in French as Hyacinthe Rigaud (), was a Catalan-French baroque painter most famous for his portraits of Louis XIV and other members of the French nobility.
Biography
Rigaud ...
(1659–1743), painter
Following a visit in 1963, the Catalan
surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
artist
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...
declared
the city's railway station the
centre of the Universe, saying that he always got his best ideas sitting in its waiting room. Dalí's painting ''
La Gare de Perpignan'' commemorates his vision of "cosmogonic ecstasy" there on 19 September 1963. He followed that up some years later by declaring that the Iberian Peninsula rotated precisely at Perpignan station 132 million years ago – an event the artist invoked in his 1983 painting ''Topological Abduction of Europe – Homage to
René Thom''. Above the station is a monument in Dali's honour, and across the surface of one of the main platforms is painted, in big letters, «
perpignan centre du monde» (French for "
perpignan centre of the world").
Gallery
Perpignan Castillet 1.jpg, Le Castillet
Perpignanrivierebasse.jpg, Bridge over river Basse
Font sirenes Perpinya.jpg, Mermaids fountain
086 Perpignan Rue.JPG, City centre
Le cinéma art nouveau "le Castillet" (Perpignan) (8846519405).jpg, Cinéma Le Castillet
ChateauRoussillon Tour.jpg, Château Roussillon: tower of the old castle (13th and 14th centuries)
ChateauRoussillon ChapelleStPierre 01.jpg, Château Roussillon: Sainte-Marie and Saint-Pierre chapel (11th and 12th centuries)
087 Perpignan La Loge de Mer -1397, agrandi au XVIème-.JPG
088 Perpignan Cathédrale Saint-Jean.JPG, Cathédrale Saint-Jean
Perpignan-Cathedrale-02.JPG, Perpignan Cathedral
Lycée françois arago.jpeg, François Arago Lyceum
Photo panoramique de la cathédrale de perpignan.jpg, Panoramic view of the Perpignan Cathedral
Palaisdesrois.jpg, Palace of the King of Mallorca
Perpignan bridge.JPG, The bridge
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 ...
References
Bibliography
*
*Alícia Marcet, ''Histoire de Perpignan, la fidelíssima'' (1995), Perpinyà
erpignan: Llibres del Trabucaire,
External links
*
History of PerpignanPerpignan Tourist OfficeMuseum guideUnofficial guide to Perpignan AirportCompanie Transports – Public Bus System
{{Authority control
Communes of Pyrénées-Orientales
Cities in Occitania (administrative region)
Capitals of former nations
Northern Catalonia
Prefectures in France
Vauban fortifications in France
Cities in France