Perpignan

Perpignan was the mainland capital of the kingdom of Majorca from 1276 to 1344, and the palace built for those kings survives inside a later Spanish citadel: a fortified residence around a courtyard with a two-level chapel, Gothic and Mediterranean rather than northern French in feel. The city stayed Spanish until 1659 and remains Catalan in language, food and festival; Sant Jordi and the Sanch procession at Easter are kept. The Castillet, a brick gate tower of 1368 in red brick, is the city's emblem. Salvador Dali once declared the railway station the centre of the universe, and the station plays along with a plaque.

History

Settlement goes back to Roman times, but the medieval town seems to have been founded around the beginning of the 10th century and soon became the capital of the counts of Roussillon; in 1172 Count Girard II left his lands to the Counts of Barcelona, and in 1197 the town gained a partly self-governing commune. When James I of Aragon created the Kingdom of Majorca in 1276, Perpignan became the capital of its mainland territories, a golden age of cloth, leather and goldsmiths' work, and Philip III of France died here in 1285. Peter IV of Aragon took the kingdom back in 1344, the Black Death carried off about half the people a few years later, and the town changed hands between France and Aragon in the 15th century; taken by the French in September 1642, it was ceded by Spain in the Treaty of the Pyrenees 17 years later (Wikipedia, Perpignan).

The main sights

• The Palace of the Kings of Majorca - a fortified Gothic residence with a double chapel.
• The Castillet - a red brick gate tower of 1368.
• The Catalan old town - lanes, the Loge de Mer and Catalan signage.
• The Dali station - the railway station he called the centre of the universe.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the Sanch procession falls on Good Friday and is a serious religious event. Summer is very hot inland from the coast.

Things to know

Parts of the old town are run-down and busy, and ordinary care is sensible at night. The palace is inside a citadel with a long approach. Summer heat is heavy.

Nearby

Collioure lies southeast; Ille-sur-Tet is west.

Key facts