The original Banyuls aquarium was created in 1885 by the founder of the Arago Laboratory, Professor Henri de Lacaze Duthiers. It was a serious affair, based around education and science. 

Today the oldest on the French Mediterranean coast, the aquarium has undergone a state-of-the-art make-over. Still educational, still scientific – but also a whole lot of fun! Bright corals, octopus, eels, fish of all shapes, sizes and hues, an exciting glimpse of local underwater life in a milieu created with care, the fish released back into their natural habitat when they grow too big for comfort in tanks.  

The ‘Jardin Méditerranéen’ of the Biodiversarium, hanging from the cliffs above the valley of Baillaury, gives a fascinating insight into Mediterranean plant life on the surface.  

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In 1870, Abbé François Rous, new Curé at the Chapelle de la Rectorie, took on the task of restoring and extending the small church. Money was tight, but with a firm business head on his shoulders, (and after tasting the local wine and declaring it delicious) he set up a network of Catholic contacts, to make it the communion wine throughout France, marketing it as ‘œuvre du vin de messe‘.

When the railway reached Banyuls, the naturally sweet Banyuls wine was soon being drunk in some of the best restaurants in the land. 

As the money rolled in, he was able to donate funds to other needy causes including a young and talented artist called  Aristide Maillol. Later, to express his gratitude, Maillol was to paint the curé’s portrait, hanging today in the Abbé Rous wine cellar. 

In  1879, the venture was banned! A victim of his own success, our clever curé was providing too much competition for the local vignerons! 

Did you know that a swim around the Réserve Naturelle Marine de Cerbère-Banyuls to discover the underwater fauna and flora can be accompanied by a commentary – with a special snorkel that transmits good quality sound by bone conduction – through the teeth! 

Bone conduction was actually discovered by Ludwig van Beethoven. He was almost completely deaf but  managed to hear the piano through his jawbone by attaching a rod to his piano and clenching it in his teeth,  bypassing the eardrums and ‘transmitting’ directly to the Cochlea. 

Did you know that the first successful industrial strike by women in France took place in Cérbère?

A difference in width between Spanish and French railway tracks meant that goods had to be unloaded and reloaded onto different wagons when they crossed the border.

As oranges used to be one of the most important imports, women called    “transbordeuses d’oranges”, used to carry out this unloading and reloading, carrying baskets weighing 15 – 20 kilos. 

In February 1906, poor pay prompted a strike which continued on and off until December, when a group of militant women who had been refused employment in favour of  more ‘pliant’ workers, lay on the track.

The train carrying ‘scab’ workers stopped just in time, the women received an extra 50 centimes per wagon load, and the militants were offered equal employment rights! 

High above Banyuls, the little white chapel of Notre Dame de la Salette catches the first rays of the sun as it rises out of the bay. The chapel was built by Bonaventure Reig,  staunch Catholic and owner of Mas Reig, on his return from a pilgrimage to La Salette in Isère where the  Virgin had appeared to two young shepherds, hence its name.