Pyrenees Guide

Villefranche de Conflent is located, in the middle of Conflent between Prades and Olette. This city was built by the count Guillaume-Raymond de Cerdagne, in the year 1090 and took advantage as early as its origin of fiscal advantages, that's why its name means in French "free town". Until the eighteenth century, Villefranche de Conflent was the administrative capital of the region. The ramparts were strengthened by king d'Aragon in the thirteenth century who used it as an outlying post. But it was Vauban who gave Villefranche de Conflent its actual aspect. Sightseeing tours are organized by the office of Tourism and you will discover, at first, the ramparts and their history. After this visit, we advise you to take a walk in the middle of the city in which you will be delighted to see the pink marbled houses (13 - 14 century) and the picturesque alleys, the shops and their old wrought iron signs, the marvellous door of Spain, its church Saint Jacques and all the relics of the past, here and there. Other interesting place is the stronghold Liberia and the trip in yellow train that you shouldn't miss.

The town of liberties: When the Comte de Cerdagne decreed the foundation of this town to attract a population, he did not hesitate in granting pardon to all criminals and others on the fringes of society if they came to live here. One can easily imagine a civil servant of the Comte, as land surveyor, registering the ground. The original layout can be seen today in an impeccable rectangle. Two parallel roads cross this layout to split up into islands of buildings, served by narrow roads at right angles.

The treaty of the Pyrenees: Vauban gave the ramparts their present form shortly after the treaty of the Pyrenees which in 1659 annexed the Catalan region to France. He built in particular the bastions of the King and Queen, and his engineers continued his enterprise later by updating the Medieval ramparts to the needs of the artillery of the 17th century but also in building the Fort Saint Jean on a peak that overlooks the village

A museum town: If out of all our villages a single one is worthy of this title, it is without a shadow of doubt Villefranche. Everywhere the material used is this famous pink marble from the Conflent. It is used in sculpture on the two Romanesque doorways of the parish church It is also to be found on the 13th century bell tower but also in the belfry dating from the 12th century, and even on many of the village houses. You can enter the shops and ground floors of houses on a pathway of pink marble and find it again in Roman arches or in the intersecting ribs of a vault.

The marble: It is the quarry of Villefranche which supplied the material for Serrabona, Cuixa, and Corneilla de Conflent. After the town and its quarry, why not discover the 12th century masterpieces made from it.