Tautavel (; ) 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 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 ...

. It is home to The European Centre for Prehistoric Research (CERP). Tautavel Man, an early hominid and some of the oldest human remains in Europe, was found in '' Caune de l'Arago'', a cave in the commune.

Geography

Tautavel is located in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the

arrondissement of Perpignan The arrondissement of Perpignan is an arrondissement of France in the Pyrénées-Orientales department (Northern Catalonia) in the Occitanie region. It has 39 communes. Its population is 292,142 (2021), and its area is . Composition The commun ...

Population

Places of interest

* The prehistoric Museum of Tautavel with a replica of the Cave of Arago (Caune d'Arago), site of the discovery of the ‘Homme de Tautavel’. Copies of the fossils of Homo heidelbergensis, stone tools and original animal fossils are also on display. In several

dioramas A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like Model ...

, living environments from the era of the ‘’Hommes de Tautavel‘’ and the later

Neanderthals Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

are brought to life. * Only ruins remain of the castle of the ‘’Château de Tautavel‘’ * The ‘’Église Saint-Génis‘’ dates from the 16th/17th century.

Environment

* The Arago cave, located approx. 3 km north of the village, is not open to visitors‘’Tautavel - Arago cave‘’
/ref> * The Chapelle de Saintes-Puelles, located about 2 km south of the village near the road to Estagel, is a simple building from the early 19th century that is well worth seeing. * The

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

"Tour del Far" high above the village (498 m) dates from the time of the Kingdom of Mallorca.

References

External links