Perpignan

Toponymy

The name of Perpignan appears in 927 as Perpinianum, followed in 959 by Villa Perpiniano, Pirpinianum in the 11th century, and Perpiniani in 1176. Perpenyà, which appears in the 13th century, was the most common form until the 15th century, and was still used in the 17th century. It probably derives from the Roman name Perpennius.

The city is sometimes nicknamed Perpi for short.

History

Though settlement in the area goes back to Roman times, the medieval town of Perpignan seems to have been founded around the beginning of the 10th century. Shortly afterwards, Perpignan became the capital of the counts of Roussillon. Historically, it was part of the region known as Septimania. In 1172 Count Girard II bequeathed his lands to the Counts of Barcelona. Perpignan acquired the institutions of a partly self-governing commune in 1197. French feudal rights over Roussillon were given up by Louis IX in the Treaty of Corbeil.

When James I the Conqueror, king of Aragon and count of Barcelona, founded the Kingdom of Majorca in 1276, Perpignan became the capital of the mainland territories of the new state. The subsequent decades are considered the city's historical golden age. It prospered as a centre of cloth manufacture, leatherwork, goldsmithery, and other luxury crafts. King Philippe III of France died there in 1285, as he was returning from his unsuccessful crusade against the Aragonese Crown.

In 1344 Peter IV of Aragon annexed the Kingdom of Majorca and Perpignan once more became part of the Principality of Catalonia. A few years later it lost approximately half of its population to the Black Death. It was attacked and occupied by Louis XI in 1463; a violent uprising against French rule in 1473 was harshly put down after a long siege, but in 1493 Charles VIII, wishing to conciliate Castile in order to free himself to invade Italy, restored it to Ferdinand II of Aragon.

Again besieged and captured by the French during the Thirty Years' War in September 1642, Perpignan was formally ceded by Spain 17 years later in the Treaty of the Pyrenees, and thereafter remained a French possession.

In June 2020, Louis Aliot of the National Rally was elected mayor of Perpignan. This was the first time since 1995 that the far-right party had won a city of more than 100,000 people.

Government and politics

The Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) dates back to 1318.

Mayors

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Perpignan is twinned with:

Partner towns

Education

More than 10,000 students between the ages of 2 and 12 attend 61 preschools and primary schools in the city. Perpignan also has 26 high schools.

Population

Culture

Since 2004, the free three-day Guitares au Palais has been held each year in the last weekend of August in the Palace of the Kings of Majorca. The festival has a broad mainstream focus with pop-related music as well as traditional acoustic guitar music and alternative music. The festival has attracted international guests like Caetano Veloso (2007), Rumberos Catalans, Pedro Soler, Bernardo Sandoval, Peter Finger, and Aaron and Bryce Dessner (2008).

Each September, Perpignan hosts the internationally renowned Visa pour l'Image festival of photojournalism. Free exhibitions are mounted in the Couvent des Minimes, Chapelle des Dominicaines and other buildings in the old town.

In 2008, Perpignan became Capital of Catalan Culture. Many street name signs in the city are in both French and Catalan.

Sport

Like the rest of the south of France, Perpignan is a rugby stronghold. Their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, are regular competitors in the European Rugby Champions Cup and have been champions of the French Top 14 seven times (most recently in 2009). They play at the Stade Aimé Giral.

Their rugby league team Catalans Dragons plays in the British Super League. The Dragons' games in Perpignan against the Northern English-based sides are usually very popular with British rugby fans, with thousands descending on the city on the day of the game, including many holidaying fans travelling up from the Spanish Costa Brava to join those who came directly from the UK. The club was founded in 2000 as a merger of XIII Catalan with the nearby team AS Saint Estève to form Union Treiziste Catalane in 2000 who changed their name to Catalans Dragons upon transfer from the French to British rugby league system. The Dragons became the first non-English team to win the Challenge Cup when they defeated Warrington Wolves in the 2018 final. They are based at Stade Gilbert Brutus. AS Saint Estève's youth teams still operates as Saint-Estève XIII Mavericks in the National Division 2, while a new Elite One Championship club was formed in 2000 under the name Saint-Estève XIII Catalan which is in effect Catalans Dragons reserves; both play at the Stade Municipal in the suburb of Saint-Estève.

The local association football team is Canet Roussillon FC.

There is also an Australian rules football club, Perpignan Tigers, and American football club Grizzlys Catalans.

The Roussillon Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor racing event that was held between 1946 and 1949 in the streets of Perpignan.

Economy

Traditional commerce was in wine, olive oil, corks (the cork oak Quercus suber grows in Perpignan's mild climate), wool, 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. JOB rolling papers are currently manufactured in Perpignan.

Sites of interest

Construction work on Perpignan Cathedral began in 1324 and finished in 1509.

The 13th century Palace 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 likewise been designed by Vauban, were razed in 1904 to accommodate urban development. The main city gate, the Castillet is a small fortress built in the 14th century, which has been preserved. It was also used as a prison until the end of the 19th century.

The Hôtel Pams is a lavishly decorated mansion designed for Jules Pams that illustrates the artistic tastes of the wealthy bourgeois at the turn of the 20th century.

Les Halles de Vauban are a new addition to the banks of the city's canal. Opened in November 2017, the indoor markets are privately owned and cost €1.5 million. Split into two locations, vendors offer fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, flowers, cheese, and other items. There is a bar and central eating court with a range of tapas, burgers, omelettes and food from around the world.

Notable people linked to Perpignan

• Paul Alday (c.1763–1835), violinist, composer, and music publisher
• Christian Andreu (born 1976), guitarist
• Anna Maria Antigó (1602–1676), abbess
• François Arago (1786–1853), physicist, astronomer, and liberal politician
• Alexandre Artus (1821–1911), composer and conductor
• Amédée Artus (1815–1892), composer and conductor
• Frédérick Bousquet (born 1981), freestyle and butterfly swimmer
• Robert Brasillach (1909–1945), fascist author and journalist
• François Calvet (born 1953), politician
• Eugène Collache (1847–1883), French Navy officer who fought in Japan
• Mary Elmes (1908–2002), Irish aid worker
• Jean-Luc Escayol (born 1972), footballer
• François de Fossa (1775–1849), classical guitarist and composer
• Jacques-François Gallay (1795–1864), French horn player and composer
• Philippe Georget (born 1962), novelist
• Louise Labé (1524–1566), Lyons poet of the Renaissance
• Émile Labussière (1853–1924), politician (born in Perpignan)
• Aristide Maillol (1861–1944), sculptor and painter
• André Marty (1886–1956), communist leader
• Menachem Meiri (1249–c.1310), Catalan rabbi, Talmudist, and Maimonidean
• Isabelle Pasco (born 1966), actress
• Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743), painter
• Kader Nouni (1976-), professional tennis umpire
• Myriam Ackermann-Sommer (born 1996), rabbi
• Frédéric Molas (born 1982), YouTube personality, video game tester, founder & co-host of the Web-show Joueur du Grenier
• Sébastien Rassiat (born 1982), YouTube personality, video game tester, founder & co-host of the Web-show Joueur du Grenier

Following a visit in 1963, the Catalan surrealist artist Salvador Dalí declared the city's railway station the centre of the Universe, claiming that he always had his best ideas sitting in its waiting room. Dalí's painting La Gare de Perpignan commemorates his vision of "cosmogonic ecstasy" there on 19 September 1963. 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 René Thom. Above the station is a monument in Dali's honour, and across the surface of one of the main platforms is painted, in large letters, «perpignan centre du monde» (French for "perpignan centre of the world").