Puigcerdà (Catalan pronunciation: [ˌputʃəɾˈða]; Spanish: Puigcerdá, pronounced [putʃ
Puigcerdà | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 42°25′54″N 1°55′42″E / 42.43167°N 1.92833°E | |
Country | Spain |
Autonomous community | Catalonia |
Province | Girona |
Comarca | Baixa Cerdanya |
Government | |
• Mayor | Albert Piñeira Brosel (2015)[1] (CiU) |
Area | |
• Total | 18.9 km2 (7.3 sq mi) |
Elevation | 1,202 m (3,944 ft) |
Population (2018)[3] | |
• Total | 8,981 |
• Density | 480/km2 (1,200/sq mi) |
Demonym | Puigcerdanenc |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Climate | Cfb |
Website | puigcerda |
History
editPuigcerdà is located near the site of a Ceretani settlement, which was incorporated into Roman territory. The Roman town was named Julia Libyca (modern day Llívia).
Puigcerdà was founded in 1178 by King Alfonso I of Aragon, Count of Barcelona. In 1178 Puigcerdà replaced Hix as the capital of Cerdanya. Hix is now a village in the commune of Bourg-Madame, in the French part of Cerdanya.
In the closing stages of the 1672-1678 Franco-Dutch War, the town was captured by a French army under the duc de Noailles but returned to Spain in the Treaties of Nijmegen.[4]
Puigcerdà was unique during the Spanish Civil War in having a democratically elected Anarchist council.[citation needed]
The Portet-Saint-Simon–Puigcerdà railway was opened in 1929, crossing the Pyrenees to France.
Main sights
edit- Puigcerdà Pool
- Torre del Campanar (12th century). It is the last remains of a parish church destroyed in 1936
- Romanesque church of Sant Tomàs de Ventajola, known from 958
- Romanesque church of Sant Andreu Vilallobent, dating to the 10th century and later restored
- Convent of St. Dominic, founded in 1291 and finished in the 15th century
- Old Hospital (1190), in Romanesque-Gothic style
Notable people
edit- Pere Borrell del Caso (1835-1910), painter
- Gemma Arró Ribot (born 1980), ski mountaineer
- José Antonio Hermida (born 1978), World Champion Cross Country Mountain bike 2010
References
edit- ^ "Ajuntament de Puigcerdà". Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
- ^ "El municipi en xifres: Puigcerdà". Statistical Institute of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
- ^ Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
- ^ De Périni, Hardÿ (1896). Batailles françaises, Volume V. Ernest Flammarion, Paris. p. 215.
External links
edit- Government data pages (in Catalan)