Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via (; ca, Font-romeu, Odelló i Vià), or simply Odeillo, 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 and

Cerdagne Cerdanya () or often La Cerdanya ( la, Ceretani or ''Ceritania''; french: Cerdagne; es, Cerdaña), is a natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the counties ...

near the Spanish border in the south 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 ...

. It comprises the villages of Odeillo and Via, as well as Font-Romeu, one of the oldest ski resorts in

and the oldest in 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 ...

Geography

Localization

Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via is located in the

canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes The canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes 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 Prades. It c ...

and in the

arrondissement of Prades The arrondissement of Prades is an arrondissement of France in the Pyrénées-Orientales department ( Northern Catalonia) in the Occitanie region. It has 123 communes. Its population is 59,828 (2016), and its area is . Composition The communes ...

. It is bordered by the communes of

Angoustrine-Villeneuve-des-Escaldes Angoustrine-Villeneuve-des-Escaldes (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localisation Angoustrine-Villeneuve-des-Escaldes is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arr ...

Targasonne Targasonne (; ca, Targasona; before 2022: ''Targassonne'') is a commune of Cerdanya in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in south of France. Targasonne is the home of the THEMIS Solar Power R&D Center. Geography Targasonne is located i ...

Égat Égat ( ca, Èguet) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localisation Égat is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades The arrondissement of Prades ...

Estavar Estavar (; ca, Estavar) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Estavar is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades The arrondissement of Prades is an a ...

, Saillagouse,

Eyne Eyne (; ca, Eina) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localization Eyne is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. Population Sites of ...

and

Bolquère Bolquère (; ca, Bolquera) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localization Bolquère is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. Transporta ...

Transportation

Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via station Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via is a railway station in Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, Occitanie, southern France. Within TER Occitanie TER Occitanie or liO TER Occitanie is the regional rail network serving the region of Occitanie, southern France. It is o ...

is served by the

Yellow Train The ''Ligne de Cerdagne'', usually referred to as ''Le Petit Train Jaune'' ( en, Little Yellow Train, ca, Tren Groc), is a gauge railway that runs from Villefranche-de-Conflent to Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg in the French Pyrenees. Construction st ...

line, a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

which runs from

Villefranche-de-Conflent Villefranche-de-Conflent (; ca, Vilafranca de Conflent) is historically a town in the Conflent region of Catalonia, and now a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Villefranche-de-Conflent is located in ...

through to

Latour-de-Carol Latour-de-Carol (; ca, La Tor de Querol) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localization Latour-de-Carol is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Pra ...

Toponymy

The names of Odeillo and Via appear in 839 as ''parrochia Hodellone et parrochia Avizano''. Jean Sagnes (dir.), Le pays catalan, t. 2, Pau, Société nouvelle d'éditions régionales, 1985 The name ''Font-Romeu'' means 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 ...

"fountain of the

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...

History

Odeillo and Via were both mentioned for the first time in 839 among the places paying a fee to La Seu d'Urgell church. Nevertheless, Odeillo was at the time part of the

County of Cerdanya The County of Cerdanya ( ca, Comtat de Cerdanya, ; la, Comitatus Ceritaniae; es, Condado de Cerdaña, french: Comté de Cerdagne) was one of the Catalan counties formed in the last decades of the 8th century by the Franks in the '' Marca Hispanic ...

, while Via was a property of the Urg family. On 15 July 1035,

Wifred II, Count of Cerdanya Wifred or Wilfred ( ca, Guifré, es, Vifredo or ) (''c''. 970 – 1050) was the Count of Cerdanya (988–1035; as Wifred II) and Count of Berga (1003–1035; as Wifred I). He was the eldest son of Oliba Cabreta and Ermengard of Empúries. Lif ...

, gave Odeillo to the Abbey of Saint-Martin-du-Canigou, where he retired himself a short time before his death. The

Abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa The abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa () is a Benedictine abbey located in the territory of the commune in France, commune of Codalet, in the Pyrénées-Orientales ''département in France, département'', in southwestern France. It was founded initial ...

also owned a few

allod In the law of the Middle Ages and early Modern Period and especially within the Holy Roman Empire, an allod ( Old Low Franconian ''allōd'' ‘fully owned estate’, from ''all'' ‘full, entire’ and ''ōd'' ‘estate’, Medieval Latin ''allodiu ...

s in Odeillo, as recognized by a papal bull from Sergius IV in 1011. Via remained a property of the Urg family until the 13th century. It was then bought by Peter of Fenouillet, viscount of Fenouillet and then viscount of Ille. A chapel was mentioned for the first time in Font-Romeu in 1525, on the territory of Odeillo. It already hosted a statue of the Virgin Mary from the 13th century, and a hermitage was built from 1693 to receive the pilgrims. Odeillo and Via both became

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

in 1790. The commune of Via was abolished and included into Odeillo on 10 July 1822. In 1881, a wildfire caused by arson spread throughout 267 hectares of the forest of La Calme in the north of the commune.Fabricio Cardenas
Vieux papiers des Pyrénées-Orientales, ''Incendies de forêts en 1881''
13 February 2014

Demography

Solar power

* The world's largest solar furnace in Odeillo can reach temperatures of . * THEMIS Solar Power R&D center is away in the village of

References

External links

L'invention d'une destination touristique
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontromeuodeillovia Communes of Pyrénées-Orientales