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The most Spanish and according to the weathermen, the
hottest city in France is the capital of Pyrenees Orientales and Roussillon:
PERPIGNAN.
It has the same lively impression as Barcelona or Palma: in Perpignan they have
a hot temper. Long are the nights and the young generation is dressed well and
trendy and always ready to make fun at night (and day). It is located half way
the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean. One can say that this is really not a French
but a Catalan place. Even the palms on the Place Arago and the temper often
inhabitants show a southern character. In Perpignan the hours don’t pass “à la
française” but vibrate on the rhythm of the Catalan Sardana deep in the night,
when there are still much people on the street. All around are the orchards.
The start of Perpignan history could be a Roman villa, “villa Perpiniarum”.
Because at a certain moment there was no heir to the city it fell into the hands
of the kings of Mallorca (1276). The first king was Jaime I the conqueror, his
followers Sancho and Jaime II added Roussillon, Cerdagne, Montpellier. The
region had a high degree of evolution under these kings. The city Perpignan
became rich thanks to the textile industry. Also embroiders, tanners and gold
smiths gave a lot of wealth to the city.
At the end of kingdom Mallorca, Roussillon was added to Catalunya. This was then
moreless a federation of small stats and cities. Louis XI helped the king of
Aragon in 1463 to subdue the Catalans. And so Perpignan went once to the French,
another time to the Spaniards.
In 1473 Perpignan had again changed nature and allied with Aragon after an
uprising. Now the
French had enough and came with a terrible siege. Finally the Aragonese king
told Perpignan it could give up. Now in 1493, new changment: king Charles VIII
gave the kings Ferdinand and Isabella from Spain, Perpignan as a gift. He needed
allies for his military adventures in Italy. After Ferdinand came the great
Charles V or better known as Charles Quint who changed the palace of the kings
of Mallorca into a large fortress. In 1642 the French reconquered the city and
decided by the Traité des Pyrenées, that Perpignan would be definitely French.
Here also Vauban could add some fortifications that were unluckily all destroyed
last century. |
