Collioure

Collioure ( Catalan Cotlliure ) is a commune with 3036 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011 ) in the department of Pyrénées- Orientales of the Languedoc -Roussillon region. The inhabitants are called Colliourencs.

Geography

Collioure is next to Argeles- sur -Mer and the adjacent Banyuls -sur -Mer and Port -Vendres a tourist attraction at the Vermilion north of the Pyrenees. It is part of the growing area of the sweet wine Banyuls (AOC ). Collioure is an old fishing village with two electrodes separated by an old royal castle harbor bays, limited by its far into the sea advanced picturesque fortified church, whose tower was a beacon earlier.

Origin of the name

There are proposed two explanations:

• The name is of Iberian origin ( Ibero -Basque for some, Ibero - Ligurian for the others). It is composed of the tribe kauk ( deep cove ) and the ending illiberi ( Neustadt ); this ending was also used until the 4th century for the place Elne.
• The name derives from the Latin cautio liberi. This would explain the t- Catalan place names Cotlliure, with the ending lliure from Latin liber (Eng. free).

History

The area was already inhabited in prehistoric times, as can be seen in countless dolmens, so among other things, near the well preserved hamlet Rimbau at Mollo - Pass and in l' Arqueta.

Excavations in front of the castle have demonstrated that the place existed in the 6th century BC. He played a significant role in ancient times, where he served as a port for the nearby town of Elne.

Collioure is first mentioned in 673 as Castrum Caucoliberi. A later text from the 9th century, which falls back to an older dating from the 5th century, also used the name Caucholiberi. In the following years it developed the spellings Cochliure, Cocliure, sometimes simultaneously transformed into Cobliure or Copliure in Coblliure or Coplliure. The Catalan spelling Cotlliure was not used very often. The French spelling developed in the 19th century.

The castle was first mentioned in 673, proof of its strategic and commercial importance during the Merovingian era. This year, the city was conquered by the Visigoths. Later occupations by Saracens and the Normans followed.

The original castle was built in 981 by the Counts of Roussillon, after the place was under the rule of Aragon. From this period dates the present castle ( 1173 ). Under the following rule of the Kings of Majorca, the square donjon located on a promontory 1242-1280 has been completely renovated and converted into a royal residence. The place remained in the Majorcan kingdom 's most important trading port in the Roussillon. In particular, the famous Shroud of Perpignan, linens, oil and wine were exported, whereas spices, oriental fabrics and other exotic products were imported.

The Spanish kings Charles II and Philip II left the castle in a citadel rebuilt, reinforced by the Fort St. Elme in the south and Fort Miradou in the north. It should be mentioned that there was another castle in Collioure, who had built the Templars in their nearly 100-year presence and after the violent resolution (ca. 1312) of the Order of Malta castle was.

Consequentially the French occupation was at the end of the 15th century, when the place on the orders of King Louis XI. was renamed Saint- Michel ( 1475-1481 ). After taking 1643 as a result of the Pyrenees peace its strategic importance has been redefined by Vauban, who wanted to make a garrison it. He dragged the old town, to extend the castle and build new forts and broad jumps. The population of the threatened relocation to Port -Vendres, decided to rebuild the city to its present location, the Vieux Quartier du Mouré. 1793, the site was occupied by Spanish troops and liberated by General Dugommier in May in 1794. Collioure remained royal property until the Revolution.

In the 19th century Collioure experienced a major economic boom due to the expansion of fishing, in particular the success of the anchovies from Collioure, and viticulture. The boom continued until the early 20th century: after a peak in 1857 with 3846 inhabitants, you fell back in 1901, 2830 inhabitants, corresponding to a loss of 1,000 residents in five decades. The development of Port- Vendres was like this for doubt.

In this era Collioure underwent a profound change, which contributed to its tourism development: In 1904 Henri Matisse, accompanied by André Derain, who developed Fauvism, here, to paint in Collioure. Other painters followed, among them Georges Braque, Raoul Dufy, Foujita, Friesz, Juan Gris, Albert Marquet, Othon and Pablo Picasso.

The Château Royal served from March to December 1939 as an internment camp for the refugees of the Spanish Civil War who were considered especially dangerous (mainly anarchists and communists ). The so-called Camp Spécial was notorious for the inhumane treatment of up to 1000 interned Spaniards, some of whom did not survive the camp. In December 1939, the prisoners were transferred to the internment Camp de Vernet.

In the 20th century, the population stabilized 2500-2900 inhabitants. Today, the site is visited every year during the holiday season, tens of thousands of tourists that determine the image of the small town. On the one hand they put a strain on the infrastructure and the local life represent, create on the other side and secure many jobs and give the place an international flair.

Attractions

• The Chemin du Fauvisme in Collioure reminiscent of the local emergence of Fauvism: At 20 locations where the easels of Matisse and Derain were, reproductions of the paintings created there are attached.
• The already mentioned fortified church Notre- Dame -des- Anges was built in 1684-1691 by Vauban in place of the looped Church of the Upper Town. Your gloomy interior holds nine unusually interesting Schnitzretabel, including the three -story, the whole apse engaging the high altar, which was created by the Catalans Joseph Sunyer 1698. The strange bell tower reminiscent not random at a lighthouse, he had actually earlier this function.
• The former islet of Ilot St- Vicent, on which stand a chapel and a lighthouse is connected by two small beaches with the church.
• The Vieux Quartier du Mouré increases with its narrow streets and steps from the harbor adjacent to the church from steeply and is inviting decorated with flowers.
• In the Brasserie Hôtel des Templars at the Quai Amirauté there are innumerable original works of art by artists who settled in Collioure. Also very famous artists such as Henri Matisse, Maurice Utrillo, and Pablo Picasso returned to the Brasserie a regular basis, leaving the host at that time in lieu of payment pictures - these originals are not accessible to the public.
• The Château Royal is the already mentioned several times, built by Vauban royal castle, which separates the harbor of Port d' amont from Port d' Ava II. Underground passages, battlements and the parade ground are just as visible as the prison from the 16th century, the chapel from the 13th century and the bedroom of the queen.
• In Collioure is the grave of Spanish poet Antonio Machado, who, like many of his countrymen, at the end of the Spanish Civil War escaped to Collioure where he died on 22 February 1939 and was buried.

Sons and daughters of the town

• René Llense (1913-2014), French national football team