Cerbère: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
English
 This resort is located Cerbere, a village on the border between Perpignan and Barcelona. Just 800 metres from the beach, it offers fully-equipped apar… MoreEUR 60 - 110 Hotel La Vigie
 Located in the village of Cerbere, Hotel La Vigie is 2 kilometres from the Spanish border. It is a 5-minute walk from the beach and offers rooms with … MoreEUR 40 - 70 Hotel Arago
 The Hotel Arago is located in Cerbère, 200 metres from the beach and harbor. It offers 12 guestrooms overlooking the garden or street, with a bathroo… More | ||||||||||||||||||
Cerbère: Guide
Cerbère (in région of Languedoc-Roussillon. In 1999, it had 1487 inhabitants called Cerbériens.
Geography
Last commune on the Côte Vermeille (vermilion coast) before Spain, Cerbère is neighboured by the communes of Banyuls-sur-Mer and Portbou (Spain).
Name
The dervation of the name has certainly nothing to do with the dog Ibero-Basque language|Basque root -erri (place). The name of Cerbère described, then, a rocky place, which perfectly describes the site, as well as other localities with similar names.
History
Prehistoric occupation is beyond doubt, as witnessed by the presence of several megaliths within the commune : a menhir at the foot of Pic de Querroig (Catalan: la Pera Dreta), and three dolmens : at Col de la Farella, Col des Portes and at Coma Estepera.
Cerbère is mentioned from the 1st century by the earliest Roman geographer Pomponius Mela, as marking the limit of the Gauls : Cervaria locus finis galliae; this is reflected in 1659 in the negotiations to fix the Franco-Spanish border. In 1155, the area was known as Cervera.
Although the commune of Cerbère only dates from 1889, its territory was already defined in document of 981, in the form of a fiefdom granted by the French King Lothair of France|Lothaire to his friend the Duke Gausfred. In this document are set out the present limits of the territory: Perafita, Pic Joan and Pic de Querroig. This fiefdom, called la vall de Cervera, included a castle (the Querroig tower is the only remnant) and a church dedicated to Saint Sauveur, built at the foot of the Pic de Querroig and mentioned in the 14th century. It is only from the 14th century that we can find evidence to give a vague idea of the history of Cerbère. The place was attached to Abeilles, creating a single seigneurie (manor), of which Dominique Isern, from Rigarda, was owner at the end of the Ancien Régime. It then became part of the commune of Banyuls-sur-Mer, to which it had, in fact, been more or less attached since the Middle Ages.
It was in 1864 that the destiny of Cerbère was to change. In this year, an agreement was signed between Spain and France to build a rail link between the two countries, leading to the construction of two frontier stations at Portbou and at Cerbère. The international tunnel was inaugurated in 1876, the tracks laid and the international station opened in 1878. Traffic was immediately important, and led to a rapid growth of population. The rail infrastructure grew to a considerable size, since the differing track Rail gauge|gauges in Spain and France necessitated moving all merchandise between trains - simpler than changing the axles. The growth in population led naturally to the creation of the commune of Cerbère (1889), which had 1428 inhabitants in the census of 1891. The population did not stop growing until 1962, when it reached 2438. Growth was reversed from this date for several reasons : mechanisation on the railway (notably the changing of axles), growth of road transport, and abolition of Customs barriers. However, the economic role of Cerbère is far from being negligible: in 1998, the station handled a total of 2,500,000 tonnes of merchandise. In the freight yard, 350 to 700 wagons are handled daily, whether by changing axles (13 trains a day) or with dual axles (10 trains a day). For passengers, the number of trains serving the station varies from 18 to 47 a day depending on season. Annually, 15,000 trains pass through Cerbère station.
Sites and monuments
The former Belvédère du Rayon Vert hotel, designed in the Art Deco|art déco style by the Perpignan architect, Léon Baille, and built between 1928 and 1932, is now a medical centre. It has the appearance of a ship. In 2002, the building was added to the supplementary list of historic monuments.
Cap Cerbère is a rocky headland giving excellent views of the Spanish coast.
The road over the Franco-Spanish border, while very tortuous, affords splendid views of the town as well as the coast. The actual border is on the Col des Balitres at 173 m/568ft.
Cerbère is an important centre for tourism, often linked with undersea diving. The Réserve naturelle de Cerbère-Banyuls-sur-Mer, established in 1974, waas the first marine natural reserve in France, covering 650 ha of sea.
(In French unless indicated)
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Cerbère". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See also
Communes of Pyrénées-OrientalesExternal links