Céret (; ) is a commune in the

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ; ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spain, Spanish ...

department in southern France. It is the capital of the historic Catalan comarca of

Vallespir Vallespir (; ) is a historical Catalan comarca in Northern Catalonia, part of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. Geography The capital of the comarca is Ceret, and it borders the comarques of Conflent, Rosselló, Alt Empordà ...

Geography

The town lies in the foothills of the

Pyrénées The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. F ...

mountains, in southern France, on the river

Tech Tech or The Tech may refer to: * An abbreviation of technology or technician A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skill and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical ...

at an altitude of 175–1400 meters. It is from the

Autoroute A9 The A9 autoroute (''La Languedocienne''/''La Catalane'') is a motorway in Southern France. The road forms part of the European route European route E15, E15, as does the A9 road (Scotland). The road runs between Orange, Vaucluse, Orange and Le ...

, from

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, from

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

and from

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. The GR 10 footpath runs close by. Céret is in the

canton of Vallespir-Albères The Canton of Vallespir-Albères is a French canton of Pyrénées-Orientales department, in Occitanie. At the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015, the canton was created including 8 communes from the canton of Céret ...

and the

arrondissement of Céret The arrondissement of Céret is an arrondissement of France in the Pyrénées-Orientales department ( Northern Catalonia) in the Occitanie region. It has 64 communes. Its population is 134,629 (2021), and its area is . Composition The commune ...

Toponymy

The name of the town in Catalan is ''Ceret''. Former known names of Céret are, in order of appearance, ''vicus Sirisidum'' in 814, ''vico Cereto'' in 866, ''villa Cerseto'' in 915, ''vigo Ceresido'' in 930, also ''Cered'' and ''Ceriteto'' in the 10th century, ''Ceret'', ''Cericeto'' in the 11th and 12th centuries, ''Cirset'' around 1070, ''Cersed'' (one of the most common forms) in 1130 and ''Cerset'' in 1138, and from the 13th to 15th centuries ''Cereto'', ''Ceret'', ''Seret'' and ''Saret''. ''Ceret'' becomes the most common form around the 16th century.

History

A plague epidemic hit Céret from 1651 to 1655 and killed about a hundred people. One of the doctors in charge, coming from

Thuir Thuir (; Catalan: Tuïr, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, southern France. Geography Thuir is located southwest of Perpignan, in the canton of Les Aspres and in the arrondissement of Ceret. It is situated in a plain ...

, was fired for being repeatedly drunk and after having buried several sick people that were still alive.

Government and politics

Mayors

Twin towns

Céret is twinned with: * Almonte,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Banyoles Banyoles () is a city of 20,168 inhabitants (2021) located in the province of Girona in northeastern Catalonia, Spain. The town is the capital of the Catalan ''comarca'' " Pla de l'Estany". Although an established industrial centre many of th ...

Lüchow Lüchow (; ) is a city in northeastern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the seat of the ("collective municipality") Lüchow, and is the capital of the district Lüchow-Dannenberg. Situated in the historical region of Wendland, approximately 13&nb ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Population

Economy

The region around Céret is a major fruit producer, in particular famed for its

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...

. In

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

since the 1920s, the first cherries of the season always come in march from the region of Céret, where the local producers always send, as a tradition since 1932, the first crate of cherries to the French president of the Republic. In 1938, 45000 out of the 90000 cherry trees of Pyrénées-Orientales are in the canton of Céret. The 25000 cherry trees in Céret only then give 1250 tons of cherries each year. In the 1960s, the production of cherries in Céret rises up to 3000 tons, before being divided by 11 at the end of the 2000s.

Sites of interest

;Official historical monuments The '' Pont du Diable'' (Devil's Bridge) is a single arch stone bridge built between 1321 and 1341. With a single span of 45.45 m, it was at the time of its construction the world's largest arch bridge in terms of span length and remained so until 1356. The

church of Saint Peter The Church of Saint Peter (also known as St. Peter's Cave Church and Cave-Church of St. Peter; (romanization); ) near Antakya (Antioch), is composed of a cave carved into the mountainside on Mount Starius with a depth of 13 m (42 ft. ...

is the main church in Céret and was built from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The Château d'Aubiry is an

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

from the end of the 19th century built by

rolling paper Rolling paper is a specialty paper used for making cigarettes (commercially manufactured filter cigarettes and individually made roll-your-own cigarettes). Rolling papers are packs of several cigarette-size sheets, often folded inside a cardbo ...

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

Pierre Bardou-Job. The

War memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

was sculpted by

Aristide Maillol Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaking, printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford ...

and inaugurated in 1922. ;Museums Céret is famous for its Musée d'Art Moderne (Museum of Modern Art), which has numerous

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

paintings, sculptures and ceramics, including the famous bullfighting bowl series. The museum also features paintings by

Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

, Herbin, Soutine, many Fauves and a few

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subjec ...

. The top floor of the Museum hosts touring exhibitions. The museum is closed on Tuesdays. The Museum of Musical Instruments, Céret opened in May 2013 and is hosting a unique collection of instruments and musical scores.

Culture

Bulls

Céret holds an annual festival for the corridas which run during three days. The first bullfighting with killing of the bull occurred in Céret in 1894 and has been a tradition ever since. Fabricio Cardenas
Vieux papiers des Pyrénées-Orientales, ''Première corrida avec mise à mort à Céret en 1894''
11 July 2014 This event is known as the ''feria''. There are also bull runnings where young bulls (usually with their horns blunted) are run through the streets corralled by a group of horsemen and women. People wearing traditional white and blue (the Céret colors) outfits, chase from behind in an attempt to catch hold of the bull's tail and hold on for as long as they can. The feria is always held the weekend nearest to 14 July,

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

and around 30 to 40,000 people participate in the streets each year.

Dances

Céret regularly holds communal dances, where local amateurs or professionals dance in a ring. The dance is known as the ''

sardanes The ''sardana'' (; plural ''sardanes'' in Catalan) is a Catalan musical genre typical of Catalan culture and danced in circle following a set of steps. The dance was originally from the Empordà region, but started gaining popularity througho ...

''. No pre-arrangement is made on the dancers behalf, locals note the time and place on posters around the city and turn up as they wish. More formal arrangements are also made on other occasions.

Market

Céret has a market on Saturdays, where vendors sell mostly local produce, along with sausages, olives, cheese and wine. During the summer, there is also a market each Tuesday night that focuses on arts and crafts rather than produce.

Notable people

Artists

The Grand Café today Céret has a continued tradition of being a home for artists, especially painters and poets. Pablo Picasso lived in Céret in the early part of the 20th century and Café Pablo in the town is dedicated to him. The Grand Café, still operating today, was a meeting place for many famous artists in the early part of the last century. Henri Matisse and Amedeo Modigliani, amongst other artists, visited at this time. Chaïm Soutine, the Russian emigre painter, lived in Céret for a period and painted many landscapes of the village and its surrounds. Aristide Maillol, a famous sculptor born in the local village of Banyuls-sur-Mer, is represented by two public sculptures - one outside the visitors information centre and the other on the war memorial. Harold Weston, the American modernist, lived in a farmhouse above Céret from 1926 to 1929. *

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

(resident 1911 - 1912) *

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

(resident 1911 - 1912) * Georges Badin (1927–2014) : poet, painter and curator born in Céret. *

Chaïm Soutine Chaïm Soutine (; ; ; 13 January 1893 – 9 August 1943) was a French painter of Belarusian-Jewish origin of the School of Paris, who made a major contribution to the Expressionist movement while living and working in Paris. Inspired by clas ...

(resident 1919-1922) *

Harold Weston Harold Weston (February 14, 1894 ''–'' April 10, 1972) was an American modernism, modernist painter, based for many years in the Adirondack Mountains, whose work moved from expressionism to Realism (visual arts), realism to abstract art, abstr ...

(resident 1926-1929)

Other people

* Louis Companyo (1781–1871), physician and naturalist. * François Jaubert de Passa (1785–1856) : engineer. *

Déodat de Séverac Marie-Joseph Alexandre Déodat de Séverac (; 20 July 1872 – 24 March 1921) was a French composer. Life Séverac was born in Saint-Félix-Lauragais, Saint-Félix-de-Caraman, Haute-Garonne. He descended from a noble family, profoundly influen ...

(1871–1921) : composer, lived and died in Céret. * Edmond Brazès (1893–1980) : writer and poet both in Catalan and in French. *

Martin Fourcade Martin Fourcade (; born 14 September 1988) is a retired French Biathlon, biathlete. He is a six-time Biathlon at the Winter Olympics, Olympic champion, a thirteen-time Biathlon World Championships, World Champion and a seven-time winner of the B ...

(1988–) : biathlete.

Gallery

Ceret-Font dels Nou Brolladors.jpg Ceret pont de Diable.jpg Pont du Diable 2.JPG Ceret pont.jpg Céret Wappen 1723.jpg Céret Porte de France MHR91 20086601209.jpg Céret Kriegerdenkmal Maillol.jpg

References

External links

City Council website / Ceret tourist information office

Information in Catalan Encyclopaedia

Museum of Modern Art website

Visite virtuelle de Céret à 360°
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceret Communes of Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrenees Subprefectures in France