Perpignan: France

Perpignan Travel: France
Perpignan (Catalan Perpinyà) is a commune and the préfecture (administrative capital city) of the Pyrénées-Orientales département in southern France, and was the capital of the former province of Roussillon (French Catalonia). Population (1999): 105,115 (163,000 including the suburbs). Founded around the year 900, Perpignan was the capital of the counts of Roussillon until 1172 and later was the capital of the Catalan kingdom of Majorca, from 1276 to 1344. King Philip III of France died there in 1285, as he was returning from the unsuccessful crusade against the Aragonese Crown.
Captured by the French in September 1642, Perpignan was formally ceded by Spain 17 years later in the Treaty of the Pyrenees.
Attractions
The cathedral of St Jean was begun in 1324 and finished in 1509.
The 13th century castle 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.