The Rough Guide Snapshot France - The Pyrenees by Rough Guides

Author:Rough Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241276778
Publisher: Rough Guides

Collioure

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Some thirty kilometres southeast of Perpignan, COLLIOURE is achingly picturesque. Palm trees line the curving main beach of Port d’Avall, while slopes of vines and olives rise to ridges crowned with ruined forts and watchtowers. Its setting and monuments inspired Henri Matisse and André Derain to embark in 1905 on their explosive Fauvist colour experiments.

Collioure is dominated by its twelfth-century Château-Royal (daily: 9am–5pm; July & Aug 10am–7pm; €4; 04 68 82 06 43), founded by the Templars and subject to later alterations by the kings of Mallorca and Aragón, and again after the Treaty of the Pyrenees gave Collioure to France. The mediocre permanent “collection” inside scarcely merits the entrance fee; attend instead a concert in the courtyard.

The second landmark in the town is the Église Notre-Dame-des-Anges (daily: 9am–noon & 2–6pm; free; 04 68 82 06 43), which features in every postcard and tourist brochure of the region. With its belfry dating back to the middle ages, this building served as a beacon for the port until the late seventeenth century when the rest of the church was adjoined. Behind it two small beaches are divided by a causeway leading to the chapel of St-Vincent, built on a former islet, while west from here a concrete path follows the rocky shore to the bay of Le Racou.

Just north of the château lies the old harbour, still home to a handful of brightly painted lateen-rigged fishing boats – now more likely used as pleasure craft – all that remains of Collioure’s traditional fleet. Beyond this, the stone houses and sloping lanes of the old Mouré quarter are the main focus of interest.

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