Maureillas-las-Illas
Encyclopedia
Maureillas-las-Illas is a rural commune
in the Vallespir
, Pyrénées-Orientales
in the south of France
. The town belongs to the Communauté de communes
of Vallespir
uniting Maureillas-las-Illas with Céret
, Saint-Jean-Pla-de-Corts
, Reynès
and Le Boulou
.
The history of Maureillas as a city goes back to antiquity
. Founded by the Romans
as a small settlement, the village remained small until the Charlemagne
conquest Saracen
s in 811.
The first mention of the village under the name "Maurelianum" is in 1011. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but it seems it should bring the prefix "Moor" as Saracen
s invader remained a few decades in the region.
In the Middle Ages
the village grew around the church of Saint Etienne, built in the 10th century. In 1400, residents built a new chapel outside the walls of the village. It was dedicated to Saint John of Mauranells.
Maureillas was a place of residence for the powerful Oms family, but there is no remains left of the possessions of this family. However the village of Les Cluses
belongs to them since the 7th century.
The commune of Saint-Martin de Fenollar is merged to Maureillas in 1823. And in 1972 it was the turn of the villages of Las Illas and Riunoguès.
Las Illas is in the deep confines of a valley to the Col of Panissars, right at the border with Spain, and the Trophy of Pompey. This is the second most southern town in mainland France
after Lamanère
. In the ninth century, the passage was so important that the clergy of Arles-sur-Tech
built a church dedicated to Notre Dame du Remède there. It was bequeathed to the monastery of Ripoll
in the eleventh century, who built a priory.
Las-Illas was notorious in the nineteenth century to the groups of outlaw
s who took refuge in the surrounding caves, the famous Trabucayres.
s, bands of individuals who, on behalf of social banditry, political or foul, robbed, kidnapped, and ransomed diligences, owners and farmers from 1837 to 1846. The name comes from the Catalan
word "Trabuc" a short-barreled shotgun
used at that time.
Despite their cruelty, the Trabucayres were treated as avengers to social injustice. This feeling was strengthened because their crimes were addressed to the "bourgeois." In addition, Trabucayres preceded their acts with religious rituels to absolve them from all sin, thus reinforcing their popularity among common people. The legend is still alive and a source of pride among border populations.
The Museum of Cork Oak
of Maureillas, unveils the rich cork oak
culture of the Vallespir forest
. The tree forms a thick, rugged and corky bark. Over time this bark can develop considerable thickness and this can be harvested every 9 to 12 years as cork
. The harvesting of cork is done entirely without machinery and does not harm the tree and a new layer of cork regrows, making it a renewable resource
.
Cork Oak
s live about 150 to 250 years. Virgin cork (or 'male' cork) is the first cork
cut from generally 25-year-old trees. Another 9 to 12 years is required for the second harvest, and a tree can be harvested twelve times in its lifetime.
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 Vallespir
Vallespir
Vallespir is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, part of the French Département of Pyrénées-Orientales. The capital of the comarca is Ceret, and it borders Conflent, Rosselló, Alt Empordà, Garrotxa and Ripollès...
, 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 :...
in the south of 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...
. The town belongs to the Communauté de communes
Communauté de communes
A communauté de communes is a federation of municipalities in France. It forms a framework within which local tasks are carried out together...
of Vallespir
Vallespir
Vallespir is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, part of the French Département of Pyrénées-Orientales. The capital of the comarca is Ceret, and it borders Conflent, Rosselló, Alt Empordà, Garrotxa and Ripollès...
uniting Maureillas-las-Illas with Céret
Céret
Céret is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It is the capital of Vallespir historical Catalan comarca.-Geography:...
, Saint-Jean-Pla-de-Corts
Saint-Jean-Pla-de-Corts
Saint-Jean-Pla-de-Corts is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-References:*...
, Reynès
Reynès
Reynès is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-References:*...
and Le Boulou
Le Boulou
Le Boulou is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-References:*...
.
History of Maureillas
Recently the dolmen of Siuréda was still hidden by a thick vegetation but its discovery shows that the prehistoric man of Chalcolithic, roughly 3500 to 1700 BC, lived in the hills above Maureillas.The history of Maureillas as a city goes back to antiquity
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
. Founded by the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
as a small settlement, the village remained small until the Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
conquest Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s in 811.
The first mention of the village under the name "Maurelianum" is in 1011. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but it seems it should bring the prefix "Moor" as Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s invader remained a few decades in the region.
In 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...
the village grew around the church of Saint Etienne, built in the 10th century. In 1400, residents built a new chapel outside the walls of the village. It was dedicated to Saint John of Mauranells.
Maureillas was a place of residence for the powerful Oms family, but there is no remains left of the possessions of this family. However the village of Les Cluses
Les Cluses
Les Cluses is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-References:*...
belongs to them since the 7th century.
The commune of Saint-Martin de Fenollar is merged to Maureillas in 1823. And in 1972 it was the turn of the villages of Las Illas and Riunoguès.
Las Illas is in the deep confines of a valley to the Col of Panissars, right at the border with Spain, and the Trophy of Pompey. This is the second most southern town in mainland 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...
after Lamanère
Lamanère
Lamanère is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-References:*...
. In the ninth century, the passage was so important that the clergy of Arles-sur-Tech
Arles-sur-Tech
Arles-sur-Tech is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-Location:Arles-sur-Tech is situated in a valley which separates France from Spain, through which the 84km long river "Tech" flows as it passes through Arles-sur-Tech. This small town is dominated by the Pyrenees...
built a church dedicated to Notre Dame du Remède there. It was bequeathed to the monastery of Ripoll
Ripoll
Ripoll is the capital of the comarca of Ripollès, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is located on confluence of the Ter River and its tributary Freser, next to the Pyrenees near the French border...
in the eleventh century, who built a priory.
Las-Illas was notorious in the nineteenth century to the groups of outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
s who took refuge in the surrounding caves, the famous Trabucayres.
The Trabucayres
The Trabucayres are famous mountain outlawOutlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
s, bands of individuals who, on behalf of social banditry, political or foul, robbed, kidnapped, and ransomed diligences, owners and farmers from 1837 to 1846. The name comes from the Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
word "Trabuc" a short-barreled shotgun
Sawed-off shotgun
A sawed-off shotgun also called a sawn-off shotgun and a short-barreled shotgun , is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel and often a shorter or absent stock....
used at that time.
Despite their cruelty, the Trabucayres were treated as avengers to social injustice. This feeling was strengthened because their crimes were addressed to the "bourgeois." In addition, Trabucayres preceded their acts with religious rituels to absolve them from all sin, thus reinforcing their popularity among common people. The legend is still alive and a source of pride among border populations.
Cultivation of Cork Oak
Cork Oak
Quercus suber, commonly called the Cork Oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring. It is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa.It grows to up to 20 m,...
of Maureillas, unveils the rich cork oak
Cork Oak
Quercus suber, commonly called the Cork Oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring. It is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa.It grows to up to 20 m,...
culture of the Vallespir forest
Vallespir
Vallespir is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, part of the French Département of Pyrénées-Orientales. The capital of the comarca is Ceret, and it borders Conflent, Rosselló, Alt Empordà, Garrotxa and Ripollès...
. The tree forms a thick, rugged and corky bark. Over time this bark can develop considerable thickness and this can be harvested every 9 to 12 years as cork
Cork (material)
Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...
. The harvesting of cork is done entirely without machinery and does not harm the tree and a new layer of cork regrows, making it a renewable resource
Renewable resource
A renewable resource is a natural resource with the ability of being replaced through biological or other natural processes and replenished with the passage of time...
.
Cork Oak
Cork Oak
Quercus suber, commonly called the Cork Oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring. It is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa.It grows to up to 20 m,...
s live about 150 to 250 years. Virgin cork (or 'male' cork) is the first cork
Cork (material)
Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...
cut from generally 25-year-old trees. Another 9 to 12 years is required for the second harvest, and a tree can be harvested twelve times in its lifetime.
See also
- Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department
- Hiking in the Pyrénées-OrientalesHiking in the Pyrénées-OrientalesHiking in the Pyrénées-Orientales is very popular because of its wide range of hiking tracks and scenery in the Pyrenees mountain range by the Mediterranean Sea....