Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales

Prades ( Prada in Catalan ) is a commune with 5854 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Pyrénées- Orientales in the Languedoc- Roussillon region. It is the administrative seat for the district of Prades Prades and Canton. In addition to the official language is French and Catalan is spoken. Since 1939, the world-famous cellist Pablo Casals lived in Prades, who founded there in the post-war period a festival with outstanding musicians.

Geography

Prades is located west of Perpignan at the foot of Canigou and the river Tet. It is the capital of the Conflent.

Population

Attractions

• The church of Saint -Pierre with one of the greatest Baroque altarpiece of France
• Medieval houses in the local area

Baroque altarpiece Saint- Pierre

Twinning

• Ripoll, Spain, since 1969
• Kitzingen, Germany, since 1984
• Lousã, Portugal, since 1991

Personalities

• Pau Casals (1876-1973), cellist
• Thomas Merton (1915-1968), Trappist and mystics