Many are the stories of ‘encantades’ or ‘bruixas’, (witches) in the history of the P-O, and believers in witchcraft protected themselves with a variety of different methods, including painting their windows blue, keeping bread in the drawer, washing undergarments in water from seven different sources, never leaving nail clippings or cut hair on the floor, putting their shirts on backwards…..
On 7th November 1659, the kingdoms of France and Spain signed the Treaty of the Pyrenees, which ended the 30 years war between supporters of Louis XIV of France and those of Philip IV of Spain.
An anonymous 12th century sculptor, the Master of Cabestany was not recognised until the 1930s when a Romanesque-style tympanum was unearthed during renovation work at the parish church of Cabestany.
The Via Domitia was the first of the vast network of roads in Gaul (France) built by the Romans, crossing southern France to link Italy and Spain.
The 15th August is the festival of l’Assomption – a jour férié (public holiday) celebrated by Catholics throughout France and commemorating the departure of Mary from this life and the assumption of her body into heaven.
If you have a letter to send, look out for the updated version of the ‘Marianne’ stamp designed by street artist Yseult Yz and available now at the post office.
The mosquito, (‘little fly’ in Spanish) has been around for more than 30 million years.
Recent excavations carried out by the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives (INRAP) have unearthed a treasure trove of artefacts that should now make it possible for historians to reconstitute the medieval Jewish quarter of Perpignan
Did you know that it is likely that tennis was first played in France. The ball used to be hit with the palm, and started off as the ‘jeu de paume’.
During the French revolution, it was the kindly doctor Joseph Ignace Guillotin, who decided, in a humanitarian gesture, that the guillotine shouldn’t just be for the benefit of the French nobility.