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How to get here?Once upon a time... Vauban
Once upon a time... Vauban
In 1659 the northern regions of Catalonia, Roussillon-Vallespir-Conflent-Capcir and one part of the Cerdagne, belonged to the king of France.
From then on the line separating France and Spain no longer went through the Corbières but over the Pyrenees. Salses, which protected the old frontier from the Spanish side, had no longer any strategic importance.
From 1659 to 1667, Louis XIV was not very interested in defending Roussillon but because of the rebellion of the Angelets in 1669 against the introduction of the salt tax, Villefranche had to be defended.
In fact the rebellion made it obvious that it was important to keep a check on the Vallespir and the Conflent which were open to the plain of Roussillon.
So Louis XIV then decided to provide Roussillon with an effective defence system.
He sent Vauban to the region in 1679 to inspect the defences and he cleared an area at the entry to Cerdagne which he called Mont-Louis. Collioure just needed some improvements to its defences but a fort needed to be built at Villefranche, and at Prats-de-Mollo an engineer suggested that they raise the town walls and enlarge Fort Lagarde. At Bellegarde he designed a vast fortification based on his Spanish project. Further work was also to take place at Port-Vendres.
But his most ambitious project apart from Mont-Louis concerned Perpignan so in 1680 he set about reinforcing the existing fortifications so that the town could be sealed off completely.
However, for geopolitical reasons, not all the projects were finished.
Villefranche-de-Conflent and Mont-Louis : UNESCO Sites!
The fortifications of Vauban are listed on UNESCO's world heritage site.
To discover or to re-discover!
Villefranche-de-Conflent and Mont-Louis 
