Royal Castle of Collioure
The royal castle of Collioure is an immense historic stone fortress with roots in antiquity. The castle is located in Collioure, a traditional Catalan fishing village on the Mediterranean coast of Southern France. The castle evolved over a millennium, combining several fortifications and designated as historic monument in 1922.
The origins of the first fortified site are prehistoric and potentially well settled when the Visigoth’s King Wamba cited his siege of the fortified village known as “Castellum Caucolibéri”(port of Elne fort) to quell a rebellion in 673. The fortified port village flourished for many centuries under a succession of royal rulers from Carolingian dynasty to the House of Aragon.
During the 12th through the 13th century the Kings of Aragon, enlarged the castle and encouraged local artisans and trade markets with privileges and tax exemptions to promote growth. They also granted the Knights Templar land to promote their reputable skills in developing commercial industries and farming. After a major expansion of the fortification, the castle became the summer royal residence for the Kings of Majorca whose principle palace was in Perpignan.
Power struggles between the Spanish Hapsburg and the French for hegemony increased from the 15th through 17th century with significant modifications of the royal castle and adaption to advancements in artillery. Vaubon, chief military engineer of Louis XIV, inspected the site structure and recommended the demolishment of the entire upper town with a replacement of a steep glacis to make the structure more defensible. He extended and connected the ramparts of the castle to the adjacent Fort Miradou, couching the remaining village buildings in between. Collioure’s charm was temporarily lost as a garrisoned town.
The castle served as a prison for exiles in the Spanish Civil War in 1939 and survived the German occupation during WWII. By the mid-twentieth century, Collioure’s reputation as an important artist community enhanced its charm again and today the Royal Castle offers permanent and temporary exhibition space for cultural history, visual arts and cultural events.
Researched and written by Virginia Vanneman, Graduate Student in the Department of History, University of West Florida.
