Collioure

Collioure (French pronunciation: ​[kɔˈljuʁ]; Catalan: Cotlliure, IPA: [kuʎˈʎiwɾə]) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.

Geography

The town of Collioure is on the Côte Vermeille, in the canton of Côte Vermeille and in the arrondissement of Céret.

Toponymy

Collioure is named Cotlliure in Catalan.

History

There is a record of the castle at "Castrum Caucoliberi" having been mentioned as early as 673, indicating that the settlement here was of strategic and commercial importance during the Visigoth ascendancy.

Collioure used to be divided into two villages separated by the river Douy, the old town to the south named Port d'Avall (in French known as Le Faubourg) and the upstream port, Port d'Amunt (in French known as La Ville).

Collioure was taken in 1642 by the French troops of Maréchal de la Meilleraye. A decade later, the town was officially surrendered to France by the 1659 Treaty of Pyrenees. Because of its highly strategic importance, the town's fortifications, the Château Royal de Collioure and the Fort Saint-Elme stronghold, were improved by the military engineer Vauban during the reign of Louis XIV. Nevertheless, Collioure was besieged and occupied by the Spanish troops in 1793, marking the last Spanish attempt to take the city. The blockade was broken a year later by general Jacques François Dugommier.