Collioure is one of these beautiful villages nestled in the Côte Vermeille at the foot of the Pyrenees. The fishermen's houses, colorful mosaics, huddle around the bay where the church and its famous bell tower, the Royal Castle, the ramparts and the towers are reflected.
The city experienced its most prosperous period in the 13th century with its attachment to the crown of Aragon. After a few centuries where it passed successively from the crown of Spain to the crown of France, the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) established its definitive attachment to France. In order to secure the border, Vauban enlarged the Royal Castle, created the immense glacis which surrounds it and surrounded the city with ramparts, thus giving it its appearance today. In the 19th century, the local economy relied on two essential resources: vines and fishing. The booming anchovy cured industry has given it its international notoriety.
At the beginning of the 20th century, with the pictorial revolution of Fauvism, painters (Matisse, Derain) discovered Collioure and made this charming little port known. Since then, visitors have come to admire this privileged place where the beauty of nature, the picturesqueness of historical monuments, the mild climate and the brightness of the sky come together.