Perpignan

Location:

Languedoc- Roussillon region; South of France.

Access information:

• By air: 1h40 to London and 1h to Paris
• Direct connections to Paris and from 2009, 45 minutes from Barcelona.
  

Size/population:

The population of this city is 163,000 including the suburbs.

Geography:

This City is located at the coast of at the very south. It is just a stone’s throw away from as it is close to the border.

Economy:

Traditional commerce was in wine and olive oil, corks, wool and leather, and iron.

Perpignan is located in the first European area for economic development. With a capital growth of 13.4% (between 2006-2007), the city reveals its attractivness. Perpignan offers a great quality of life thanks to its location.

Main Sights:

• Following a visit in 1963, the Catalan surrealist artist Salvador Dalí declared the city's railway station the centre of the universe. Above the station is a monument in Dali's honour, and on the station's ground is painted, in big letters, “ Perpignan centre du monde” (French for " Perpignan centre of the world").
• Perpignan is a rugby football stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup, and their rugby league side plays in the Super League under the name Les Catalans.
• Also worth a visit is the cathedral of St John the Baptist which begun in 1324 and finished in 1509 and the 13th century castle surrounded by ramparts

Nearest activities:

As Perpignan is a city on the coast, it enjoys the fact that it has nearby beaches just a stones throw away form the city itself.

Culture:

Today, Perpignan is a major venue in the world of photojournalism with Visa pour l'Image. Throughout the whole year, the city is the focal point of numerous events such as Les Estivales (Summer Events) or Les Jeudis de Perpignan (held every Thursday).

Summer Festivals:

• The Perpignan Carnival is a festive occasion, deeply-rooted in the mists of time. Traditional customs give each city a special atmosphere (Tio-Tio). Whatever its mode of expression, the soul of the Carnival does not so much lie in the sequins and the special effects as in the ability of the city to put on a show, encouraging everyone to follow in its wake...
  
  
• The Festival of Saint-Jean marks one of the high-points of the year in Perpignan. For several days and nights, the former capital of the Kingdom of Majorca decks itself out in all its finery and puts on a number of lavish and varied events that express an age-old yearning for festivity. A Catalan tradition that is upheld all over France and the rest of Europe, the Festival of Saint-Jean is, in actual fact, a thousand year old tradition that has its roots in the summer solstice. Having descended the Canigou, the flame of Saint-Jean, the great symbol of peace and fraternity lights up the whole of Perpignan on the evening of June 23, setting it ablaze with a thousand fireworks, both in the city centre and in the various districts.

Museums:

• Rigaud Museum
  Its collection comprises a certain number of very interesting works, notably the primitives of the Catalan and Spanish schools of the 14th - 16th centuries.
• Cabinet Numismatique Joseph Puig
  Nice collection of ancient Roman, Egyptian, and Spanish as well as Feudal and National French coins including the greater part of Western nations. Outstanding collection also from Roussillon and Catalogne.