THE GREAT PORT VENDRES TAPESTRY

“Every picture tells a story”

IN THE BEGINNING: the association

Enamoured of both the beauty and long and fascinating history of Port-Vendres, the Great Port Vendres Tapestry Asssociation was started in July 2015 to create a large tapestry of the history of the town. The main objective was to build a tourist attraction that would ‘give back’ something to the place the members had come to love.

The first panel was started in October 2015 – the coat of arms of Port-Vendres. At that stage there were only 2 embroiderers, but gradually others were attracted until there were 16 at the finish.

Like Port-Vendres, formed by different peoples over centuries, the project reflects the varied influences of other places. Nobody involved was born in Port-Vendres, most live there, but two still lived in the United Kingdom, one in Eire and another in Norway, although they were regular visitors to the town.

Since the group expanded beyond the first two, they have shared conversation, embroidery traditions and tea, on over hundreds of Wednesday afternoons. The past of Port-Vendres has been seen with fresh eyes – from England, Ireland, Russia, Scotland, the U.S.A., and France itself.

Some joined the group in trepidation, never having held a needle and thread before in their lives. Others joined with clear skill already in their hands and 1 had even been an embroidery teacher!

The members learned that there are different methods for sewing similar stitches as well as developing their linguistic skills (for at least the odd word!). There has been an interchange of cultures and information about what is happening in the region.



As they stitched the history of this wonderful place, they began to appreciate that there is ‘tapestry in the blood’ here. In fact, Maillol had a tapestry factory in Banyuls and the stitching in the group’s panels is very similar to the tapestry produced there.

TEN YEARS ON….the association

Now we found ourselves reflecting on the future. All the embroiderers had been over retirement age when the project was started, with some of us a lot older. Increasing age appeared to be bringing increasing infirmity, at least to some. Arthritic fingers were the most ‘popular’ complaint, making embroidery difficult. We had already lost those who had returned to the UK and others had joined other associations when their work with us seemed done. We had met the objectives we had set ourselves when planning the association’s inception.

A large proportion of those of us who were left were also members of the local art club, ABCD. In discussing the future we decided that because the Tapestry is an artistic venture, the association might fit into this club. The members of the ABCD Conseil d’Administration were approached about a possible merger and after examining the possibilities and French administration requirements we agreed to a ”fusion”. This duly took place in January this year.

The  tapestry

The project evolved to 21 panels, each 70 cm², now framed and ready to be gifted to the town of Port-Vendres. The official handing over ceremony was led by the Mayor and the Adjoint responsible for Culture on Friday 16th October (by invitation only). Once the sanitary situation allows, they will find a permanent home and be opened to the public.

The panels depict the history of Port-Vendres from the Phoenicians to 2020, representing hours of research and interviews with local residents. There have been many discussions and decisions about how to present each historic theme and debates about artistic interpretation.

There are around 80,000 stitches in each panel, demonstrating an investment of time by each of the members. Countless hours have been put into generating interest to gain funds, from commercial and private people. Even their search for wool, with few other resources at the time, took much energy and effort.

In viewing the tapestry, you are invited to travel through time and discover fascinating stories, from pre-history volcanoes to the modern port. You can learn of the Romans, whose sunken ships and amphorae have been discovered in our harbour; the possible journey of Hannibal over the Pyrenees on his way to conquer Italy and atrocities wrought by Nazis as they exited our village towards the end of World War II.

The tapestry celebrates the stories of the history of Port-Vendres, lovingly rendered in colourful detail to delight residents and visitors alike.

Postcards are being printed of the panels so you can take a piece of the artwork home with you. The members have also written a book about their adventure which will be published in the spring of 2021.

TEN YEARS ON….the tapestry

This year 2025 is the tenth anniversary of the start of the association “La Tapisserie de Port-Vendres”. My friend and neighbour, Juliette, and I put the first needles into the fabric of the first design in October 2015. It was to be the simplest of the designs and we learned a lot as we went along.

Gradually over time we welcomed another 14 embroiderers to join us and by 2020 we had a set of 21 completed panels, each representing a part of the history of our town. At that time we felt that the project was completed and so planned and then ran a very successful exhibition in the beautiful Dome exhibition centre in October 2020.

It was sufficiently successful that we were encouraged to stage a second exhibition in May 2022. By this time the use of the Dome had been changed and a new exhibition centre opened, La Pavilion des Arts. Once again the exhibition was highly successful and we had wonderful compliments about our panels.

However, just one visitor told us that whilst the panels were lovely, he was disappointed. We had omitted an important part of Port-Vendres’ history, the story of the time the “Communards” came here.
None of our group knew anything about this, so we enlisted the help of a friend, a local retired history teacher. She gave us a great deal of information, enabling the new design to be produced and translated to the fabric.
Now there was a problem. Following Brexit and then the Covid lockdown, some of our members, second home owners, had sold their properties here, reducing the number of available embroiderers. One of our number though, Francoise, offered to take on the challenge. She had already done 2 panels and was the fastest of the embroiderers. She set to work and we were presented with this 22nd panel to put on display within 6 months.