P-O Life n°29 (11.8MB) - Anglophone-direct.com

were well represented. Many are now used for
exhibitions and concerts.
St Jacques was originally the Jewish Quarter,
created in 1243, by James the Conqueror. He
wished to develop Perpignan’s economy. Perpignan
was becoming known internationally for its cloth
business and the drapers needed more money
to improve their trade. Jews were well known as
moneylenders. By offering them special privileges
he persuaded them to live right next door to
the cloth merchants and drapers. The ploy was
immensely successful and all prospered. ( Until
13th September 1493, that is. On that fateful day
Ferdinand of Aragon and his queen, Isabelle of
Castille, came to Perpigan and on the 21st of the
same month, all Jews were given thirty days to
leave, taking nothing with them. )
In 1245 the same James the Conqueror gave
the Dominicans land on which a leprosy hospital
stood. It took them almost a century to complete
the soaring and beautiful building we see today.
This time the photographs are hung on long wires,
almost dwarfed by the height and beauty of their
surroundings. A small courtyard joins the Chapelle
Ste Dominique to the Chapelle du Tiers-ordre. The
true splendour of the doorway was discovered
during the preparations for a VISA festival, traces
of colour indicating that the alternatively round
and almond shaped arches were originally brightly
painted. The Tiers-ordre chapel, full of dramatic
19th century art, is where the “Trabucayres”, (bands
of highwaymen) who terrorised the roads of the
Albères in the mid 19th century were tried and
condemned to death or hard labour.
Outside is the Place de la Revolution Française
where, in the dappled shade of tall plane trees, the
lizard fountain spouts water at several tempting
restaurants.
For the most spectacular plane trees you
must go to the Square Bir Hakeim. It was named
in memory of the desert battle where, in May
1942, the French held the superior strength of
the German/Italian offensive at bay allowing the
troops of Montgomery to defeat those of Rommel
at El Alamein. The trees planted in 1809 are still
there, the fountain still sparkles and, with the
Promenade des Platanes, it is one of the main lungs
of Perpignan.
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