Col du Perthus

The Pertús pass is one of the passes that allow you to cross the Pyrenees. At only 290 m above sea level, it connects the Catalan regions of Alt Empordà and Vallespir. It constitutes the western end of the Albera mountain range (although some geographers place this western end further west of the town of Pertús).

It is located at the top - north - of the urban core of the town of Pertús, which even overflows it to the north, so that the pass itself falls within the urban core. The pass itself is very close to where Carrer de la Església leaves the road (or Avinguda de França) to the west.

Toponymy
Perthus comes from the Latin pertusus, itself past participle of the verb pertundere (“to pierce, to hole”)3. It is a classic term to name a narrow passage, a pass. The Col du Perthus is therefore a pleonastic toponym, the name of Perthus appropriate to the village. Pertusium is also found in Low Latin. It is this term which appears in 1306 to designate for the first time and with certainty the pass of Perthus: Pertusium de parrochia sta Maria de Clusa.

The term was first transformed into Catalan (pertús) before being Frenchized.

Geography
The waters to the north of the pass go to the Tec river basin, those to the south to the Llobregat d'Empordà, a tributary of the Muga.

The Pertús Pass crosses the current border between the Spanish and French states and constitutes a very important point on the north-southwest European road axis. The customs facilities are located there, currently disused.

The original pass, at an altitude of 283.1 meters, hosts the meeting point of the departmental roads D900 (former N - 9) and state roads N-II, just east of the town of Pertús and north of the Límits de la Jonquera, but currently there is a second Coll del Pertús, on the highway, just above the state border, at 298 m. high.

In the pass there is a considerable population center which is divided in the middle by the border. The western part and a sector of the eastern part make up the municipality of Pertús, in the Vallespir region, and part of the eastern part is the Portús district, belonging to La Jonquera, de l'Alt Emporda.

Transportation
The altitude of the pass makes it, with that of Balistres, one of the lowest crossing the Pyrenees. Unlike the latter, the Col du Perthus is not by the sea and avoids a major detour to connect major roads, Perpignan and Girona. These characteristics make it a major route for crossing the Pyrenees.

Since the Treaty of the Pyrenees, it marks the Franco-Spanish border where it supports the customs offices. It also constitutes the limit between the A9 and AP-7 motorways.

It is also the junction point between the French national road 9 (France) and the Spanish national road N-II. It is crossed underground, by the Perpignan-Figueras high-speed rail link.

History
IThe first historical fact marking the Perthus undoubtedly dates back to 218 BC. BC when Hannibal and his army of elephants crossed the Perthus pass during the Second Punic War, after having negotiated a large toll at Illiberis.

The area was later fortified by the Romans. The pass is then known as Summum Pyrenaeum and is the junction point of the Via Domitia to the north and the Via Augusta to the south. The remains of various Roman fortifications are visible in the commune of Cluses. They defended access to the pass via the two Roman roads. The remains visible along the Domitian Way, on the neighboring Col de Panissars are probably those of the trophy erected by Pompey, mentioned several times by ancient texts after the conquest of Spain3 and which materializes this junction.

When the Visigoths seized Septimania in 412 following the fall of Rome, they organized their defense around the castle of Ultrère while developing the fortifications of Perthus. However, only ruins of these works remain9.

While it is certain that the Arabs used the Col du Perthus to annex Narbonne between 711 and 719 before retreating 40 years later, the so-called “Moorish” castle is a Roman fortress modified by the Visigoths.

On October 1, 1285, Philip the Bold, King of France, allied with James II, King of Majorca, was defeated by Peter III of Aragon during the Battle of the Col de Panissars which put an end to the Aragon Crusade. James II of Majorca began to fortify the western height of the pass in 1285 to defend himself from his powerful Aragonese brother. The truce is short-lived. The pass came under Aragonese domination in 1295 after the Treaty of Anagni forced James II to be a vassal of the crown of Aragon.

The marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1479 made the Spanish pass, until the uprising of Catalonia in 1640, in the middle of the Thirty Years' War. The alliance of the Catalan government with Louis XI II allowed French troops to cross the Col du Perthus. After 19 years of conflict, the Treaty of the Pyrenees determines the border between France and Spain and the complex division of the Col du Perthus.

Military developments developed until, in 1677, Vauban had the old buildings destroyed to build Fort Bellegarde. Until the 20th century, the history of the Col du Perthus was confused with that of Fort Bellegarde.

The village of Perthus was founded in 18363.

A pyramid was built between 1974 and 1976 at the junction of the A9 and AP7 motorways. It is the work of architect Ricardo Bofill. It is dedicated to Catalonia. It is located on the slope opposite Pompey's trophy.

Communications
The European route E-15 passes through the Pertús pass, which connects the French A-9 motorways with the Spanish AP-7. In parallel, very close, the D-900 road meets the N-II.

The 8,171 m tunnel. which hosts the high-speed rail line from Barcelona to Paris through the Serra de l'Albera to the east of the Coll del Pertús.

Notes and references

 * 1) Col du Perthus [archive] on the ICGC.
 * 2) “Classic IGN map [archive]” on Géoportail.
 * 3) “Le Perthus [archive]”
 * 4) Cadastral plan of the Commune of Perthus, Section AC, updated for 1986, 66 O 137.
 * 5) Final act of delimitation of the international border of the Pyrenees, signed in Bayonne on July 11, 1868.
 * 6) “history of roussillon [archive]”
 * 7) “Regional history [archive]”
 * 8) “Les Cluses [archive]”
 * 9) “History of Roussillon - Le perthus [archive]”
 * 10) (en)The Pyramid [archive]
 * 11) “Ricardo Bofill i Levi [archive]”

Bibliographie

 * Jacques Freixe, «  », Bulletin de la Société agricole, scientifique et littéraire des Pyrénées-Orientales, Perpignan, no 51, 1910
 * J. Freixe, «  », Bulletin de la Société agricole, scientifique et littéraire des Pyrénées-Orientales, Perpignan, no 52, 1911
 * J. Freixe, «  », Bulletin de la Société agricole, scientifique et littéraire des Pyrénées-Orientales, Perpignan, no 53, 1912
 * J. Freixe, «  », Bulletin de la Société agricole, scientifique et littéraire des Pyrénées-Orientales, Perpignan, no 54, 1913
 * J. Freixe, «  », Bulletin de la Société agricole, scientifique et littéraire des Pyrénées-Orientales, Perpignan, no 55, 1914

Republican exile
This pass was one of the key places in the republican retreat of 1939, where most of the civilian population and a large part of the republican army passed.