Perpignan (French: Perpignan, pronounced /pɛʀpiɲɑ̃/; Catalan Perpinyà) is a commune and the préfecture (administrative capital city) of the Pyrénées-Orientales département in southern France. Perpignan was the capital of the former province and county of Roussillon (French Catalonia or Northern Catalonia). It is also capital of the historical Catalonian comarca of Rosselló.
Population (1999): 105,115 (Perpignanais) in the city proper; 249,016 total in the metropolitan area.
MonumentsThe cathedral of St John the Baptist was begun in 1324 and finished in 1509.[1]
The 13th century castle of the kings of Majorca sits on the high citadel, surrounded by ramparts, reinforced for Louis XI and Charles V, which were updated in the 17th century by Louis XIV's military engineer Vauban.
The walls surrounding the town, which had been designed by Vauban, were razed in 1904 to accommodate urban development.
EconomyTraditional commerce was in wine and olive oil, corks (the cork oak Quercus suber grows in Perpignan's mild climate), wool and leather, and iron. In May 1907 it was a seat of agitation by southern producers for government enforcement of wine quality following a collapse in prices.
Perpignan's House of ArrestPerpignan is known for its prison made famous by the movie Catch Me if You Can telling the true story of Frank Abagnale. In 1969, after Abagnale was captured, he was sentenced to spend one year at Perpignan's House of Arrest, a sentence that was eventually reduced to six months. Abagnale, in his book featuring the same title, described his cell as an empty block of stone or concrete that was cold and pitch dark, and completely empty, with no furnishing except for a bucket for urination and defecation. He was forced to spend his sentence unclothed in this location, offered only three small loaves of bread, a glass of water, a cup of coffee, and a bowl of soup every day.
MiscellaneousPerpignan has a close connection with the sculptor Aristide Maillol, who attended school there.
Following a visit in 1963, the Catalan surrealist artist Salvador Dalí declared the city's railway station the centre of the Universe, saying that he always got his best ideas sitting in the waiting room. He followed that up some years later by declaring that the Iberian Peninsula rotated precisely at Perpignan station 132 million years ago - an event the artist invoked in his 1983 painting Topological Abduction of Europe - Homage to Rene Thom.[2] Above the station is a monument in Dali's honour, and across the surface of one of the main platforms is painted, in big letters, « perpignan centre du monde » (French for 'perpignan centre of the world').[3]
Perpignan is a rugby football stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup, and their rugby league side plays in the Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.
Notable people born in Perpignan
