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Brief history |
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The Oriental Pyrenees Department is situated in the South of France, at the Spanish border and is a part of Catalonia. This double culture, Catalane and French, makes it such a special attraction.
On its territory, the marks of the TAUTAVEL man where discovered, dating from approximately 450,000 years ago, barbaric invasions, Romans who re-modelled the landscape with the plantation of the vineyards, the VENDRE and VIA DOMITIA harbours which favoured commerce.
Today, we find in the Oriental Pyrenees the Christian influence which was set over many centuries in the form of monasteries and churches.
Before this, the Elne bishopric which has existed since 550, was erected at the request of the Pope by the Christianized Visigoths beginning with the third century, later under the leadership of Charlemagne numerous examples of Roman Art were built under the Benedictine order (the St. Benoit rule).
The gothic art developed in the Perpignan city, due to Jacques the second, a King from Majorca who, wishing a resistance in his continental capital, ordered the construction of the Kings’ Palace in Majorca and settled here starting with the year 1276.
The region then went through its golden age with the construction of all its major buildings, and the expansion of the sea commerce with the Collioure harbour. The markets and squares developed with leatherwork and especially the workmanship of the catalane weavers, manufacturers of famous materials.
At the end of the Middle Ages, Perpignan was witness to the Great Schism of the West which divided Europe by choosing two Popes. In 1408, the Avignon Pope Benoit the 12th, seek refuge at the Kings’ Palace in Majorca. (He established a council at the Notre Dame Church in Real).
The region suffered frontier changes especially following the 1258 Corbeil Treaty, and then the 1659 Pyrenees Treaty, but it wasn’t until March 4th 1790, during the French Revolution, that the department obtains its current frontiers.
In the Oriental Pyrenees as in the entire Roussillon, the Christian religion is deeply rooted. The clergy was in charge of the institutions and the economy, adding to the fear of a God who was inclined towards punishment or protection. Often, in the region, one could see the noblemen who celebrated their funerals with at least thirty clergymen.
The reforms brought by the French Revolution had troubled the entire country, and had been very badly received in the Catalane region.
From an economic point of view, the 19th century is marked by the extension of wine (today, a numerous production of AOC dry wines and especially natural VDN sweet wines), then in the second half by the introduction of the railroad.
This has favoured trades and commerce. Vegetable cultures developed. Thus, Perpignan grew larger and expanded over the defence walls. Today, the region is still a large producer of fruit and firstings.
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