The Tapestry
The Great Port Vendres Tapestry in the Cultural Centre in Place Castellane, Port-Vendres, was created by a passionate group of English, Irish, Russian, Scottish, Norwegian, American, French….united in their love for the history of Port Vendres. 
Lovingly embroidered in colourful detail, every one of the 23 panels tells a story. From pre-history volcanoes to the modern port, from the Romans, whose sunken ships and amphorae have been discovered in our harbour to the possible journey of Hannibal over the Pyrenees to conquer Italy and atrocities wrought by Nazis as they exited the port towards the end of World War II….and the Communards!
The Communards (No, not the band!)
The ‘Paris Commune’ was a short lived, radical government of ‘common’ people who seized power between 18 March and 28 May 1871. Ending in ‘la semaine sanglante’, its rule was brief and extremely bloody.
When France surrendered to Bismarck’s Prussian army in 1871, after a three-month siege that brought Paris to its knees, a new, pro-monarchist government was elected to negotiate with the Germans. The poor of Paris, to become known as the Paris Communards, rebelled, and on 18 March, they staged a bloody coup.
“Never has a more terrible crisis unfolded in a great city
Emile Zola.
Violence spiralled out of control on both sides. Fires raged through the city, destroying the Tuileries, the Hotel de Ville and the Louvre amongst other public buildings. In one bloody week, thousands of men, women and children were slaughtered and the revolution subdued.
Thousands of communards were subsequently executed in public sites around Paris. Many more were punished by deportation to France’s penal colony in New Caledonia.
In March 1879, following a campaign led by Victor Hugo, a partial amnesty was granted, and around 1500 Communards sailed into Port Vendres.
Ironically, many of the communards’ demands remain very relevant today. They asked for legitimate, accountable political representatives, the vote for women, (who played a large role in the Commune), equal pay, requisition of empty homes to house the homeless, citizenship to foreigners.…Plus ça change!
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