Alénya (; ) is a commune in the

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ; ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spain, Spanish ...

department in southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. 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 (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

and borders the municipalities of

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...

Canet-en-Roussillon Canet-en-Roussillon (; ; , ; , ) is a communes of France, commune and town in the France, French Departments of France, department of the Pyrénées-Orientales, regions of France, administrative region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitan ...

, Saint-Cyprien,

Elne Elne (; ) 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 ''Illibéri ...

, Corneilla del Vercol,

Théza Théza (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Théza is located in the canton of La Plaine d'Illibéris and in the arrondissement of Perpignan. Population See also *Communes of the Pyr ...

, and

Saleilles Saleilles (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. Geography Saleilles is located in the canton of La Côte Sableuse and in the arrondissement of Perpignan. Hi ...

. 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 commu ...

and in the

arrondissement of Perpignan The arrondissement of Perpignan is an arrondissement of France in the Pyrénées-Orientales department (Northern Catalonia) in the Occitanie region. It has 39 communes. Its population is 292,142 (2021), and its area is . Composition The commun ...

. It is part of the Northern Catalan comarca of Rosselló. Map commune FR insee code 66002

History

Alénya was first inhabited by the

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

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 was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

from the fifteenth century.

Government and politics

Canton

In 1790, the commune of Alénya is included into the canton of Elne, then part of the Perpignan district. It is moved to the 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 (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in Fr ...

in 1973 and, finally, into the

canton of La Côte Radieuse Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

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