Puigcerdà Explained

Puigcerdà
Settlement Type:Municipality
Pushpin Map:Catalonia#Spain
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Catalonia
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Spain
Subdivision Type1:Autonomous community
Subdivision Type2:Province
Subdivision Name2:Girona
Subdivision Type3:Comarca
Subdivision Name3:Baixa Cerdanya
Coordinates:42.4317°N 1.9283°W
Elevation M:1202
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Total Km2:18.9
Population Demonym:Puigcerdanenc
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone:CET
Utc Offset:+1
Timezone Dst:CEST
Utc Offset Dst:+2
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Area Code Type:Dialing code
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Albert Piñeira Brosel (2015)[2]
Leader Party:CiU
Blank Name:Climate
Blank Info:Cfb

Puigcerdà (in Catalan; Valencian pronounced as /ˌputʃəɾˈða/; Spanish; Castilian: Puigcerdá, pronounced as /es/) is the capital of the Catalan comarca of Cerdanya, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, northern Spain, near the Segre River and on the border with France (it abuts directly onto the French town of Bourg-Madame).

History

Puigcerdà 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.[3]

Puigcerdà was unique during the Spanish Civil War in having a democratically elected Anarchist council.

The Portet-Saint-Simon–Puigcerdà railway was opened in 1929, crossing the Pyrenees to France.

Main sights

Notable people

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: El municipi en xifres: Puigcerdà. Statistical Institute of Catalonia. 2015-11-23.
  2. Web site: Ajuntament de Puigcerdà. Generalitat of Catalonia. 2015-11-13.
  3. Book: De Périni . Hardÿ . Batailles françaises, Volume V . 1896 . Ernest Flammarion, Paris. 215.