Pyrenees Oriental

The Pyrenees-Oriental covers 4000 sq km and is effectively the southern part of the Languedoc as it runs into Spain on the Mediterranean coast.

These are some of the facts

40 kms of fine sandy beaches

20 km of rocky coast line

3 Valleys

3 Mountain chains

226 Towns and villages

4116 sq kms of countryside

320 days of sun every year

There are three main rivers in the Pyrenees Oriental, Tet,Tech and Agly which have eroded the valleys with their fast flowing waters.

The landscape runs from the hot beaches of Perpignan up to the Carlit peak at 2921 metres high. The more familiar Canigou peak is 2785 m high.

These are the zones

La Rocky Coast

The Alberes

The Vallespir and Upper Vallespir

The Sandy coast

The Roussillon plane

The Aspres

The Riberal

The Conflent and upper Conflent

The Capcir

The Cerdagne

The Agly valley.

The Catalan Corbieres

The Fenouilledes

Read about

The history and heritage of the area

Prehistory in the Languedoc and antiquity

The middle ages in the Languedoc

The Kings of Majorca

Peace with Spain and the Treaty of the Pyrenees

Gastronomically the area has

Good wines

Wide range of foods

Vallespir and the Valley of the Tech. This is the countryside alongside the Spanish Border. Ceret is the capital. The town has large plane trees giving good shade. The streets are narrow and winding with plenty of small squares. The Saturday market is large. The Musee d'Art Moderne owes its existence to closeness of Spain and the refuge it offered to painters. Picasso, Chagall, Dali, Matisse. their works are all here.