The waterfront of the old town at Collioure, Pyrénées-Orientales, Occitanie, France. On the left is the Château Royal (Royal Castle), founded by the Knights Templar in 1207, converted later the same century to receive the court of the Kings of Majorca, and occupied by the Spanish until 1642. On the right is the belfry of the Église Notre-Dame-des-Anges (Church of Our Lady of the Angels), built initially as a medieval pharos lighthouse. The lighthouse, now topped by a pink Tuscan-style dome, signalled the ancient trading port’s location to ships at sea with smoke by day and fire at night.
Collioure, Pyrénées-Orientales, Occitanie, France: the old town waterfront flanked by the Château Royal founded by the Knights Templar in 1207 and the iconic belfry of the Église Notre-Dame-des-Anges (Church of Our Lady of the Angels), built as a medieval pharos lighthouse, has long been a favourite subject for artists. The lighthouse, now topped by a Tuscan-style dome, signalled the ancient trading port’s location to ships at sea with smoke by day and fire at night. The light was taken out of service in the 17th century when Collioure lost its main function to the deeper waters of nearby Port-Vendres. In 1693, the tower was converted into a bell tower or campanile to serve the new church, built in Mediterranean Gothic style against its cylindrical rubble walls between 1684 and 1691. The dome was added in 1810 and the much-photographed landmark now also functions as a clock tower. Collioure, Catalan in character, lies about 20 km from the Spanish border on the Côte Vermeille (Vermillion Coast). The small town is dominated by fortresses, including the Château Royal and the late-17th century Fort Miradou and Fort Sainte-Elme. In the early 20th century Collioure became a centre of intense activity for Fauvist artists such as Henri Matisse, André Derain, Georges Braque and Othon Friesz, and it also inspired Pablo Picasso, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, James Dickson Innes and Tsuguharu Fujita. The British novelist Patrick O'Brian lived here from 1949 until his death in 2000. His novel, The Catalans, describes Collioure life as it used to be.
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Collioure, Pyrénées-Orientales, Occitanie, France
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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