Cerbère
Encyclopedia
Cerbère is a commune
in the Pyrénées-Orientales
department in southern France
. Its inhabitants are called Cerbériens.
The village is best known for hosting the border station Gare de Cerbère
on the French side of the train line between Perpignan
and Barcelona
. Since France and Spain use different rail gauge
s, the border stations of Cerbère and Portbou
are quite busy with various transfer or gauge adjustment operations.
(vermilion coast) before Spain
, Cerbère is neighboured by the communes of Banyuls-sur-Mer
and Portbou
(Spain).
Cerbère's nearness to Spain played a significant role in what has become known as "The Retreat" or "La Retirada." In the early months of 1939, many of the near 500,000 Republican refugees fleeing Franco's Spain flooded over the border at Col-des-Balistras/Belitres Pass into Cerbère and other border villages. A monument featuring an exposition of photos taken by photographer Manuel Moros of those refugees now marks the crest of Belitres Pass, where Portbou in Spain and Cerbère in France can be seen from the same spot.
, (Cerbère in French), guardian of Hell in Greek mythology
, even if Cape Cerbère could appear as a guard post at the entry to Spain. In any case, numerous other localities have the same name, especially in Spain
, and their geographic position would not suggest such a derivation. An alternative suggestion is a place frequented by stags (French: cerfs), an equally unlikely hypothesis. Given the antiquity of the name, it must be assumed to be a pre-Latin name, and to come from the pre-Indo-European
root kar or ker (rock) followed by the Ibero
-Basque
root -erri (place). The name of Cerbère described, then, a rocky place, which perfectly describes the site, as well as other localities with similar names.
s within the commune : a menhir
at the foot of Pic de Querroig (Catalan: la Pera Dreta), and three dolmen
s : at Col de la Farella, Col des Portes and at Coma Estepera.
Cerbère is mentioned from the first century by the earliest Roman geographer Pomponius Mela
, as marking the limit of the Gaul
s : Cervaria locus finis galliae; this is reflected in 1659 in the negotiations to fix the Franco-Spanish border. In 1155, the area was known as Cervera.
Although the commune of Cerbère only dates from 1889, its territory was already defined in document of 981, in the form of a fiefdom
granted by the French King Lothaire
to his friend the Duke Gausfred. In this document are set out the present limits of the territory: Perafita, Pic Joan and Pic de Querroig. This fiefdom, called la vall de Cervera, included a castle
(the Querroig tower is the only remnant) and a church dedicated to Saint Sauveur, built at the foot of the Pic de Querroig and mentioned in the 14th century. It is only from the fourteenth century that we can find evidence to give a vague idea of the history of Cerbère. The place was attached to Abeilles, creating a single seigneurie (manor
), of which Dominique Isern, from Rigarda, was owner at the end of the Ancien Régime. It then became part of the commune of Banyuls-sur-Mer
, to which it had, in fact, been more or less attached since the Middle Ages
.
It was in 1864 that the destiny of Cerbère was to change. In this year, an agreement was signed between Spain and France to build a rail link between the two countries, leading to the construction of two frontier stations at Portbou
and at Cerbère. The international tunnel was inaugurated in 1876, the tracks laid and the international station opened in 1878. Traffic was immediately important, and led to a rapid growth of population. The rail infrastructure grew to a considerable size, since the differing track gauge
s in Spain and France necessitated moving all merchandise between trains - simpler than changing the axles. The growth in population led naturally to the creation of the commune of Cerbère (1889), which had 1428 inhabitants in the census of 1891. The population did not stop growing until 1962, when it reached 2438. Growth was reversed from this date for several reasons : mechanisation on the railway (notably the changing of axles), growth of road transport, and abolition of Customs barriers. However, the economic role of Cerbère is far from being negligible: in 1998, the station handled a total of 2,500,000 tonnes of merchandise. In the freight yard, 350 to 700 wagons are handled daily, whether by changing axles (13 trains a day) or with dual axles (10 trains a day). For passengers, the number of trains serving the station varies from 18 to 47 a day depending on season. Annually, 15,000 trains pass through Cerbère station.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Pyrénées-Orientales
Pyrénées-Orientales
Pyrénées-Orientales is a department of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. It also surrounds the tiny Spanish enclave of Llívia, and thus has two distinct borders with Spain.- History :...
department in southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Its inhabitants are called Cerbériens.
The village is best known for hosting the border station Gare de Cerbère
Gare de Cerbère
Gare de Cerbère is the railway station serving the border town Cerbère, Pyrénées-Orientales department, southern France. It is connected to the Portbou railway station in Spain.The following services currently call at Cerbère:...
on the French side of the train line between Perpignan
Perpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...
and Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. Since France and Spain use different rail gauge
Rail gauge
Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
s, the border stations of Cerbère and Portbou
Portbou
Portbou is a town in the Alt Empordà county, in Girona province, Catalonia, Spain. It has a population of 1,307 people.- Overview :It is located near the French border in the Costa Brava region, and frequently serves as a dropping off point for SNCF trains coming from Cerbère in France.Portbou...
are quite busy with various transfer or gauge adjustment operations.
Geography
Last commune on the Côte VermeilleCôte Vermeille
The Côte Vermeille is a region in the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales, near the border with Spain. The Côte Vermeille stretches from Argelès-sur-Mer to the border village of Cerbère, quaint and relatively quiet seaside hideaway in the valley of Cervera...
(vermilion coast) before Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Cerbère is neighboured by the communes of Banyuls-sur-Mer
Banyuls-sur-Mer
Banyuls-sur-Mer is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-Geography:Banyuls-sur-Mer is neighbored by Cerbère, Port-Vendres, Argelès-sur-Mer and Collioure. The region is known for its wines, such as the sweet wine Banyuls. An aquatic museum with aquarium is located in...
and Portbou
Portbou
Portbou is a town in the Alt Empordà county, in Girona province, Catalonia, Spain. It has a population of 1,307 people.- Overview :It is located near the French border in the Costa Brava region, and frequently serves as a dropping off point for SNCF trains coming from Cerbère in France.Portbou...
(Spain).
Cerbère's nearness to Spain played a significant role in what has become known as "The Retreat" or "La Retirada." In the early months of 1939, many of the near 500,000 Republican refugees fleeing Franco's Spain flooded over the border at Col-des-Balistras/Belitres Pass into Cerbère and other border villages. A monument featuring an exposition of photos taken by photographer Manuel Moros of those refugees now marks the crest of Belitres Pass, where Portbou in Spain and Cerbère in France can be seen from the same spot.
Name
The derivation of the name has certainly nothing to do with the dog CerberusCerberus
Cerberus , or Kerberos, in Greek and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed hound which guards the gates of the Underworld, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping...
, (Cerbère in French), guardian of Hell in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, even if Cape Cerbère could appear as a guard post at the entry to Spain. In any case, numerous other localities have the same name, especially in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and their geographic position would not suggest such a derivation. An alternative suggestion is a place frequented by stags (French: cerfs), an equally unlikely hypothesis. Given the antiquity of the name, it must be assumed to be a pre-Latin name, and to come from the pre-Indo-European
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
root kar or ker (rock) followed by the Ibero
Iberian language
The Iberian language was the language of a people identified by Greek and Roman sources who lived in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Iberian peninsula. The ancient Iberians can be identified as a rather nebulous local culture between the 7th and 1st century BC...
-Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
root -erri (place). The name of Cerbère described, then, a rocky place, which perfectly describes the site, as well as other localities with similar names.
History
Prehistoric occupation is beyond doubt, as witnessed by the presence of several megalithMegalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the Ancient...
s within the commune : a menhir
Menhir
A menhir is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Their size can vary considerably; but their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top...
at the foot of Pic de Querroig (Catalan: la Pera Dreta), and three dolmen
Dolmen
A dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
s : at Col de la Farella, Col des Portes and at Coma Estepera.
Cerbère is mentioned from the first century by the earliest Roman geographer Pomponius Mela
Pomponius Mela
Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera and died c. AD 45.His short work occupies less than one hundred pages of ordinary print. It is laconic in style and deficient in method, but of pure Latinity, and occasionally relieved by pleasing...
, as marking the limit of the Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
s : Cervaria locus finis galliae; this is reflected in 1659 in the negotiations to fix the Franco-Spanish border. In 1155, the area was known as Cervera.
Although the commune of Cerbère only dates from 1889, its territory was already defined in document of 981, in the form of a fiefdom
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
granted by the French King Lothaire
Lothair of France
Lothair , sometimes called Lothair IV, was the Carolingian king of West Francia , son of Louis IV and Gerberga of Saxony.-Regency:...
to his friend the Duke Gausfred. In this document are set out the present limits of the territory: Perafita, Pic Joan and Pic de Querroig. This fiefdom, called la vall de Cervera, included a castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
(the Querroig tower is the only remnant) and a church dedicated to Saint Sauveur, built at the foot of the Pic de Querroig and mentioned in the 14th century. It is only from the fourteenth century that we can find evidence to give a vague idea of the history of Cerbère. The place was attached to Abeilles, creating a single seigneurie (manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
), of which Dominique Isern, from Rigarda, was owner at the end of the Ancien Régime. It then became part of the commune of Banyuls-sur-Mer
Banyuls-sur-Mer
Banyuls-sur-Mer is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-Geography:Banyuls-sur-Mer is neighbored by Cerbère, Port-Vendres, Argelès-sur-Mer and Collioure. The region is known for its wines, such as the sweet wine Banyuls. An aquatic museum with aquarium is located in...
, to which it had, in fact, been more or less attached since the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
It was in 1864 that the destiny of Cerbère was to change. In this year, an agreement was signed between Spain and France to build a rail link between the two countries, leading to the construction of two frontier stations at Portbou
Portbou
Portbou is a town in the Alt Empordà county, in Girona province, Catalonia, Spain. It has a population of 1,307 people.- Overview :It is located near the French border in the Costa Brava region, and frequently serves as a dropping off point for SNCF trains coming from Cerbère in France.Portbou...
and at Cerbère. The international tunnel was inaugurated in 1876, the tracks laid and the international station opened in 1878. Traffic was immediately important, and led to a rapid growth of population. The rail infrastructure grew to a considerable size, since the differing track gauge
Rail gauge
Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
s in Spain and France necessitated moving all merchandise between trains - simpler than changing the axles. The growth in population led naturally to the creation of the commune of Cerbère (1889), which had 1428 inhabitants in the census of 1891. The population did not stop growing until 1962, when it reached 2438. Growth was reversed from this date for several reasons : mechanisation on the railway (notably the changing of axles), growth of road transport, and abolition of Customs barriers. However, the economic role of Cerbère is far from being negligible: in 1998, the station handled a total of 2,500,000 tonnes of merchandise. In the freight yard, 350 to 700 wagons are handled daily, whether by changing axles (13 trains a day) or with dual axles (10 trains a day). For passengers, the number of trains serving the station varies from 18 to 47 a day depending on season. Annually, 15,000 trains pass through Cerbère station.
Sites and monuments
- The former Belvédère du Rayon VertHotel Belvédère du Rayon VertThe Belvédère du Rayon Vert was a hotel in Cerbère, France, designed in the art deco style by the Perpignan architect, Léon Baille, and built between 1928 and 1932. It has the overall appearance of a ship. It has its own cinema, and a tennis court on the roof....
hotel, designed in the art décoArt DecoArt deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style by the Perpignan architect, Léon Baille, was built between 1928 and 1932 and has the overall appearance of a ship. It has its own cinema and a tennis court on the roof. In 2002, the building was added to the supplementary list of historic monuments.
- Cap Cerbère is a rocky headland giving excellent views of the Spanish coast.
- The road over the Franco-Spanish border, while very tortuous, affords splendid views of the town as well as the coast. The actual border is on the Col des Balitres at 173 m/568 ft.
- Cerbère is an important centre for tourism, often linked with undersea diving. The Cerbère-Banyuls National Nature Reserve established in 1974, was the first marine reserveMarine reserveFor the United States Marine Corps Reserve see: Marine Forces ReserveA marine reserve is an area of the sea which has legal protection against fishing or development. This is to be distinguished from a marine park, but there is some overlap in usage...
in France and covers 650 hectares (1,606.2 acre) of sea.
Trivia
- Cerbère was featured as a singleplayer and multiplayer map on the game Battlefield 2142Battlefield 2142Battlefield 2142 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Digital Illusions CE and produced by Electronic Arts . It is the fourth game in the Battlefield series...
. It retained the bay area as well as the railroad tracks even though it was postapocalyptic.