Collioure, a fishing port which has fascinated the greatest painters.
 

Residence of the Kings of Majorca in the 13th century and 15th centuries, the castle became a fortress in the 15th century, then a citadel in the 16th and 17th centuries.  Open onto the sea, it is a symbol of Collioure, this charming fishing harbour with its typical lanes, and whose light has fascinated the painters of the 20th century.

In the 5th century BC, Greek navigators came to Collioure, a maritime trading point which became the port of Elne, seat of the diocese as early as the 6th century.  The name of Collioure came from « Cauco-illibéris », the horn, the Spanish cove, the old name for Elne.

As early as the 13th century, exports were sent from Collioure, where there were naval construction workshops, and where wine, linen, oil, honey, polish, soap, tuna and salted sardine were produced.  A place for exchanges and a place where travellers went through, consulates of different countries were based here and interpreters came.

 Merchants had to pay a fee, which became a source of income for the town.

It was this maritime and commercial function which explains why Collioure became the main port of Roussillon, was pampered by the different powers that governed it …