Salses-le-Château is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, in the Occitanie region, 17 km northeast of Perpignan.
Bordering the Aude to the northeast, its 71 km² territory is bordered to the east by the Leucate pond (or "Salses and Leucate pond"), separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a cordon coastline and which now constitutes a vast protected natural area.
Belonging to the natural region and former province of Roussillon, the locality has been occupied since the Neolithic era. Crossing point to the Iberian Peninsula, located on the border between the kingdoms of France and Aragon, Salses-le-Château was taken by France in 1496 before immediately falling into the hands of Ferdinand II of Aragon who built an impressive fortress there.. The small town will nevertheless be the object of new sieges, notably in 1639 and 1642, before being definitively attached to France.
Nowadays, there are some 3,500 inhabitants in the town. Taking advantage of the immediate proximity of the seaside resorts on the coast, highlighting its historical heritage and its leisure offer, the locality renowned for its vineyards and its fruit crops is a must during a stay in the region...
Classified as a Historic Monument since 1886, managed by the Center des Monuments Nationaux, the fortress of Salses was erected from 1497 on the site of an old Roman castrum on a perimeter including springs, obviously very useful in the event of a siege. A veritable border post designed by the Spanish architect Ramiro Lopez for the King of Aragon, the fortress which could house a garrison of 1,500 men and a hundred horses has retained its ingenious defense system adapted to the evolution of artillery, its walls sometimes 10 meters thick, its labyrinth-shaped galleries. Definitively conquered by France in 1642, the stronghold nevertheless lost its importance after the Treaty of the Pyrenees which attached Roussillon to the kingdom. Nevertheless, Vauban will have some modernizations carried out there. With a chapel, stables and lodgings overlooking a parade ground, the fortress has terraces dotted with views of the sea, the Corbières and the Pyrenean peaks. Open every day except January 1, May 1, November 1 and 11, December 25. Price: 8 euros. Information on +33 4 68 38 46 51.
In terms of religious heritage, see next, the Saint-Etienne church, rebuilt at the end of the 17th century, which houses many statues (including several life-size ones) and processional crosses, all classified as objects. To the north-east of the village, near the pond, the chapel of Sainte-Cécile de Garrieux dates in its current form from the 16th century and was recently restored. Since Carolingian times, it served a fishing village which was finally abandoned because it was too close to the pond and surrounded by swamps. Revamped, the Romanesque-style building now adjoins a picnic area protected by a pine forest.
In a different genre, mention should be made of the Café de la Loge, in the centre, built in the 19th century but listed in the Inventory because of its rich decorations of Renaissance, Regency or Louis XVI inspiration.
A stroll through the small town can also include the sculpture by artist Emili Armengol, the "Porte du Pays Catalan", installed in 2003, and the vast mural frescoes by Max Rastouil, avenue De Gaulle and avenue Xavier Llobères, which represent the symbols of the city (the pond, the fortress, the vines, etc.).
Finally, the ultimate heritage site to discover is not the least painful... This is the Rivesaltes memorial, inaugurated in 2015. Designed by the architect Rudy Ricciotti, this 4000 m² space was fitted out to most in the basement. It traces the history of this military camp which, from the start of the Second World War, served as a place of internment in often more than precarious conditions for Spanish Republicans, then for thousands of foreign Jews and Gypsies, many of whom were then deported. and where were settled, from 1962 to 1964, families of harkis repatriated from Algeria. In the middle of old barracks preserved in the name of memory, the memorial of the camp whose influence covered the two municipalities of Salses and Rivesaltes is also now intended to be a "reference space for the history of the forced displacements of populations and of bringing them under control". Open every day except Monday from November to March and on January 1, May 1, November 1, December 25. Price: 5 and 8 euros. Information on +33 4 68 08 39 70.
On the cultural level, activities are offered throughout the year at the Claude Simon media library (named after the novelist Nobel Prize for Literature in 1985 who lived in the town): contact on +33 4 68 38 60 04. Exhibitions are also offered at the Arthur Conte cultural hall: information on +33 4 68 38 60 04. skate park and a basketball court are located on avenue Saint-Gaudérique, and pétanque courts are available on avenue De Gaulle. It should also be noted that tennis courts can be reserved with the club on +33 6 80 18 53 53.
For hiking enthusiasts, several marked routes are traced in the town: the first, the "Salséan path", is centered on the heritage and the pond (11 km); the second, the "path of the soil", is dedicated to the vines and pastoralism (7.5 km); the third, the "path of history", includes the fortress and the memorial (12 km). Other loops (for walkers or cyclists) are possible, to take full advantage of the ecological richness of the pond, to reach the hillsides to the west, Perpignan to the south or even reach the Mediterranean beaches... Maps and information on +33 4 68 38 60 04 or +33 4 68 86 16 50.