Perpignan during the Visa pour l’image international photo journalism festival

September 2023. Oriol and I are flying to Toulouse for a road trip in Occitania and (French) Catalonia. We include the Principality of Andorra, which I can finally tick off the bucket list, and Llívia, Spain‘s exclave in France. Besides Toulouse we visit Mont-Louis, Villefranche-de-Conflent, Perpignan and Carcassonne.

When we planned our road trip, we had no idea the Visa pour l’image international photo journalism festival was on in Perpignan. We had never heard of it. And honestly, if I had read about the festival beforehand, I would have never guessed how big it is.

Many landmarks in Perpignan had some sort of event or activity linked to the festival and some were closed off, such as the Campo Santo and the Chapelle de la Funeraria.

But we started off by going to the Loge de Mer or city hall for a city map, which we used to discover Perpignan.

Gustave Violet War Monument

The Perpignan War Memorial or Monument aux morts is the most imposing of Gustave Violet‘s thirteen works. Its central element rises to more than 11 meters high and is 7.6 meters wide.

A poignant tribute to his comrades from the department who fell on the field of honor, this monument transmits a sublime message of peace and love to this Catalan land.

The Castillet

The 14th-century red-brick Castillet served as a gateway to the city. It now houses the Casa Pairal Museum, which exhibits Catalan art and culture. It’s the only remaining (ram)part of the city walls.

Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist

Construction of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist or Basilique-Cathédrale de Saint-Jean-Baptiste cathedral was begun in 1324 by King Sancho of Majorca, and later finished in the 15th century. It is built in Catalan Gothic Style.

Casa Xanxo

Built in 1508 by Bernat Xanxo (“Sancho”), a rich cloth merchant promoted to bourgeois honored by the city two years later, this very beautiful Gothic residence consisted of warehouses and a vaulted cellar which allowed the storage of goods, as well as a large reception room upstairs.

Interior fittings in the 17th century changed the place of residence. The Casa Xanxo was the object of numerous alterations until 1942. Along the facade a frieze depicting grotesque characters and animals still remains enigmatic.

It houses or housed an exhibition on the history of Perpignan, which was insightful.

Hôtel Pams

The Hôtel Pams was built between 1852 and 1872 by Pierre Bardou, one of the founders of the JOB cigarette paper company, then transformed in the 1890s into an elegant mansion by his son-in-law Jules Pams, a politician and amateur art-lover. It illustrates the artistic taste of the wealthy bourgeois at the turn of the 20th century. Today the building is owned by the city of Perpignan, and is only occasionally open to the public. It was when we were there.

Palace of the Kings of Majorca

Will be the subject of a future post.

Église Saint-Jacques

The Église Saint-Jacques or St. James’ Church was the first church built in Perpignan. Its construction follows the urban expansion of the 13th century.

It has a single nave flanked by side chapels, typical of southern Gothic.

In 1699, the Sanch chapel was built to the west, for the Brotherhood of the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, founded in 1416 by Vincent Ferrier who was the initiator of the Good Friday procession.

During the Second Empire, the wall separating the two buildings was destroyed, integrating the Chapel into the church. The bell tower was rebuilt around 1850.

Perpignan Railway Station, the Centre of the Universe

The 1858 Perpignan Railway Station is notable because Salvador Dalí named it the “Centre of the Universe“.

Walking around town

We also wandered the streets of Perpignan, had a bite or two.

In the evening, some streets were cut off for Visa pour l’image pass holders. What happened there, is a mystery to us. But in other streets images were projected on the pavement.

As there was a festival, it was harder to find a nice place to eat. Restaurateurs clearly felt the pressure and service was not so smooth. But it was all right.

Institutional racism

Perpignan has a extreme right-wing government, led by Louis Aliot of Rassemblement National. Oriol saw a casting sheet in a café toilet illustrating what this means.

The City of Perpignan calls for “European types” extras, “preferably blonde and wit blue eyes” for a rally about refugees. “Nostalgics of French Algeria get a preference”, it says. “If you are really tanned and with brown eyes or an actual refugee from Syria, please abstain.”

Next to this casting call, a reaction pamphlet protests the city politics.

So?

We saw on a tourism blog you can visit Perpignan’s historic centre in about half a day and that’s a fair assessment. It’s a perfect excursion destination if you’re in the area.

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