Argelès-sur-Mer

Argelès-sur-Mer (French pronunciation: ​[aʁʒəlɛs syʁ mɛʁ]; Catalan: Argelers de la Marenda or Argelers [əɾʒəˈles]; Occitan: Argelers de Mar), commonly known as Argelès, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.

Argelès-sur-Mer
Commune
The beach at Argelès-sur-Mer
Coat of arms
Location of Argelès-sur-Mer
Argelès-sur-Mer
Argelès-sur-Mer
Coordinates: 42°32′42″N 3°01′25″E
CountryFrance
RegionOccitanie
DepartmentPyrénées-Orientales
ArrondissementCéret
CantonLa Côte Vermeille
IntercommunalityCC Albères Côte Vermeille Illibéris
Government
 • Mayor (2020-2026) Antoine Parra
Area
1
58.67 km2 (22.65 sq mi)
Population
 (Jan. 2017)[1]
10,383
 • Density180/km2 (460/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
66008 /66700
Elevation0–1,099 m (0–3,606 ft)
(avg. 16 m or 52 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

It is about 25 km from Perpignan.

Geography

Argelès-sur-Mer is located in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the arrondissement of Céret.

Argelès-sur-Mer is on the Côte Vermeille at the foot of the Albères mountain range, close to the Spanish border. It has the longest beach in the Pyrenées Orientales.

Map of Argelès-sur-Mer and its surrounding communes

History
Main article: Camp de concentration d'Argelès-sur-Mer

During World War II, Argelès-sur-Mer was the location of a concentration camp, where up to 100,000 defeated Spanish Republicans were interned next to a windy beach in abysmal sanitary conditions by the French government after the defeat of the Spanish Republic. The refugees streamed to the camp from the winter of 1938/39 after the collapse of the Catalan front following the rebel offensive.[2]

Government and politics

Mayors
Signature of mayor Paul Pujas in 1815.
Mayor[3] · [4] Term start Term end
Assiscle Bech 1790 1791
Jean Grando 1791 1793
Joseph Arman 1793 1794
Jean Matignon 1794 1794
Damien Padallé 1794 1796
Bonaventure Verges 1796 1796
François-Xavier Boluix 1796 1798
Joseph Arman 1798 1799
François-Xavier Boluix 1799 1800
Marc Surjus 1800 1813
Côme Ferran 1813 June 1815
Paul Pujas[5] June 1815 ? 1815
Jean Azéma 1815 1816
Isidore Ferrer 1816 1821
Bonaventure Verges 1821 1821
Pierre Padallé 1821 1827
Bonaventure Julia 1827 1829
Joseph Arman 1829 1830
Pierre Padallé 1830 1831
Joseph Arman 1831 1837
Jean Germain Pujol 1837 1840
Alphonse Sebe 1840 1848
François Sine 1848 1848
Assiscle Padallé Bocamy 1848 1848
François Padallé Siné 1848 1848
Thomas Bech 1848 1852
Joseph Azema 1852 1855
Germain Barbie 1855 1865
Côme Ferran Comes 1865 1870
Joseph Baylet 1870 1870
Étienne Pujol 1870 1874
Jacques Lanquine 1874 1876
Étienne Pujol 1876 1877
Michel Moret 1877 1878
Étienne Pujol 1878 1890
Jean Padallé Bocamy 1890 1892
Marc Surjus-Coste 1892 1893
Pierre Moreto 1893 1902
Marc Surjus-Coste 1902 1908
Louis Courtais 1908 1912
Côme Anglade 1912 1914
Vincent Rouzaud 1914 1915
Dieudonné Vinyes 1915 1918
Côme Anglade 1918 1919
Louis Courtais 1919 1922
Frédéric Trescases 1944 1945
Joseph Farre 1945 1947
Germain Farre 1947 1947
Frédéric Trescases 1947 1953
Gaston Pams 1953 1981
Isidore Fourriques 1981 1983
Jean Carrère 1983 2001
Pierre Aylagas 2001 2016
Antoine Parra 2016

Population and society

Demography
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1793847—    
18001,064+25.6%
18061,173+10.2%
18211,401+19.4%
18311,478+5.5%
18361,964+32.9%
18412,136+8.8%
18462,251+5.4%
18512,325+3.3%
18562,447+5.2%
18612,456+0.4%
18662,537+3.3%
YearPop.±%
18722,600+2.5%
18762,833+9.0%
18813,134+10.6%
18863,303+5.4%
18913,413+3.3%
18963,307−3.1%
19013,358+1.5%
19062,913−13.3%
19112,837−2.6%
19212,851+0.5%
19262,835−0.6%
19312,966+4.6%
YearPop.±%
19362,945−0.7%
19462,968+0.8%
19542,907−2.1%
19623,659+25.9%
19685,022+37.3%
19755,100+1.6%
19825,723+12.2%
19907,188+25.6%
19999,069+26.2%
20069,928+9.5%
200910,033+1.1%
201510,383+3.5%

Sports

Étoile sportive catalane is the rugby union club of Argelès-sur-Mer.

Culture

Sites of interest
Dolmen of the Collets de Cotlliure
Notre-Dame del Prat
Town hall
Buildings
  • Dolmen of the Collets de Cotlliure (Monument historique)
  • Dolmen of the Cova de l'Alarb (Monument historique)
  • Dolmen of Sant Pere dels Forquets
  • Chapel of Saint-Jérôme d'Argelès, from the 10th century
  • Church of Saint-Ferréol de la Pava (Monument historique), from the 10th century
  • Parish church of Notre-Dame del Prat, from the 14th to the 20th centuries (Monument historique)
  • Church of Sainte-Marie de Torreneules, from the 8th to the 10th centuries
  • Abbey of Valbonne, from the 13th to the 14th centuries
  • Church of Saint-Laurent-du-Mont, from the 12th century (Monument historique)
  • Church of Saint-Martin-et-Sainte-Croix, from the 11th or 12th century, and the old village of Taxo d'Avall (both Monument historique)
  • Church of Saint-Pierre dels Forquets, pre-romanesque ruins
  • Castle of Pujols, from the 13th century (Monument historique)
  • Massane tower, in the Albera Massif, from the 13th century
  • Castle of Valmy, from the 19th century
  • Casa de l'Albera, museum about the Albera Massif
Natural sites
  • National nature reserve of the Mas Larrieu
  • National nature reserve of the Massane forest
  • The Bois des pins is the historical pine forest located near the beach front. Created in the 1860s by the General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales, it still has to this day over 8,000 centenarian pines.[6]

Notable people
  • Marcelle Narbonne (1898-2012) : supercentenarian who lived and died in Argelès-sur-Mer.
  • David Ensor (1906-1987) : British lawyer, actor, author and Labour Party politician, lived and died in Argelès-sur-Mer.
  • Marc Lièvremont (1968-) : former rugby union footballer raised in Argelès-sur-Mer and former member of the Étoile sportive catalane club.

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. Corazón Helado de 1939 - Los exilios republicanos Archived 2015-02-18 at the Wayback Machine
  3. bislyjp.cpm, Marc Surjus : premier grand maire d'Argelès, mayors from 1790 to 1813.
  4. Incomplete list of mayors on MairesGenWeb
  5. (in French) Fabricio Cardenas, Vieux papiers des Pyrénées-Orientales, Argelès, 11 juin 1815, 12 January 2014
  6. Cárdenas, Fabricio (2014). 66 petites histoires du Pays Catalan [66 Little Stories of Catalan Country] (in French). Perpignan: Ultima Necat. ISBN 978-2-36771-006-8. OCLC 893847466.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.