Philatelic document - Favourite village - Collioure

Collioure Pyrénées-Orientales Bathed in the special light that gives Collioure its unique charm, the small fishing port of Collioure, voted "France's Favorite Village" in 2024, has managed to make its heritage history shine far beyond our borders. This incomparable bay, nestled at the foot of the Pyrenees where a rocky coastline begins, has always attracted visitors from the sea, dating back to the Phoenicians. So much so that the village has wisely preserved its lighthouse, transformed into an emblematic bell tower, as a rallying flag for artists from all over the world, in the wake of the famous Fauves. The kings of Majorca were not mistaken, having made the fortress their summer residence in the 13th and 14th centuries, long after the first Visigothic fortifications and well before Vauban's intervention, which radically altered the layout of the village, razing the old upper town to the ground to build the glacis and the new urban enclosure, under the protection of Notre-Dame des Anges flanked by its precious altarpiece. Unshakeable, meanwhile, remains the mythical and picturesque fishermen's quarter, the Mouré, with its twisting yet dapper alleyways and rock-cut cellars. But nothing can replace the parade of the "belles catalanes", the proudly colored sardinal fishing boats, with their revolutionary or religious names, at the traditional Saint-Vincent festivities, recalling the glorious days when hundreds of them left their sails to dry on the beaches of Boramar or Port d'Avall. It's a village devoted to the ever-changing flavors of the anchovy, the little blue fish that never stops wriggling, blending art and fishermen in a devilishly inspired ballet for over a century. A beautiful story, sometimes dark and serious, whose taste remains associated with the wines jealously produced on the terraces overlooking the village, chiseling a landscape that is both wild and built, a testament to the stubbornness of the Colliourenc people.

Document philatélique et cachet d'oblitération : Illustration Aline Zalko et mise en page Valérie Besser d'après photos (c) Ville de Collioure. Texte : Ville de Collioure