Palace of the Kings of Majorca, Perpignan, France

The Palace of the Kings of Majorca is a palace and a fortress with gardens overlooking the city of Perpignan. In 1276, King James II of Majorca made Perpignan the capital of the Kingdom of Majorca. He started to build a palace with gardens on the hill on the south of the town. It was completed in 1309.

In 1415, the Holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund of Luxemburg, organised a European summit in Perpignan, to convince the Avignon Antipope Benedict XIII to resign his office and take to an end the Western Schism through the Council of Constance. On 20 September 1415, the Emperor met with Pope Benedict XIII at the palace with the King Ferdinand I of Aragon and the delegations of the Counts of Foix, Provence, Savoy, Lorraine, the embassy of the Roman church for the Council of Constance, and embassies from the Kings of France, England, Hungary, Castille and Navarre. The pope refused to resign and to recognise the Pope that the Council had chosen, clashing with the emperor who left Perpignan on 5 November.

Part of the northern wing of the palace was destroyed in a siege in 1502. Following the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, France gained Roussillon, and proceed to develop the defensive features of the palace.

Architecture

The palace was built in the Gothic style. It is organised around three courtyards 60 m square. The first foremen on the site were Ramon Pau and especially Pons Descoyl, very active in Perpignan and the Baleares. It has two chapels, one above the other: the lower is the Queen's Chapel, while the upper is Holy Cross with a pink marble door.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Tally (3 months ago)
We only saw the place from the outside and went upstairs to see the view. We didn't go inside so I can't comment on that. Price is 4€ per person. The outside didn't look to interesting.

Juan Alberto Ochando (3 months ago)
A Beautiful place to visit. Hope to come back again

anibal padilla (13 months ago)
Ok place, not very interesting really, but is well preserved and easy to see and visit

Eli ZA (13 months ago)
Well what can I say....nothing interesting. There is a modern arts exhibition in a historically old palace which covers the halls and takes away all the charm ? they didn't have anyone controll if we paid our tickets (4€ per adults kids under 12 are free) so there were many people getting in for free (we paid of course). It was worth a view pictures from the room as you have a beautiful view of Perpignan.

Vida de Imigrante com Gustavo Pedreira (13 months ago)
A place to go at Perpignan. The castle/tower is super well conserved/renovated and the experience to see its interior is super! ??

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Royal Palace of Olite

The Palace of the Kings of Navarre of Olite was one of the seats of the Court of the Kingdom of Navarre, since the reign of Charles III 'the Noble' until its conquest by Castile (1512). The fortification is both castle and palace, although it was built more like a courtier building to fulfill a military function.

On an ancient Roman fortification was built during the reign of Sancho VII of Navarre (13th century) and extended by his successors Theobald I and Theobald II, which the latter was is installed in the palace in 1269 and there he signed the consent letter for the wedding of Blanche of Artois with his brother Henry I of Navarre, who in turn, Henry I since 1271 used the palace as a temporary residence. This ancient area is known as the Old Palace.

Then the palace was housing the Navarrese court from the 14th until 16th centuries, Since the annexation (integration) of the kingdom of Navarre for the Crown of Castile in 1512 began the decline of the castle and therefore its practically neglect and deterioration. At that time it was an official residence for the Viceroys of Navarre.

In 1813 Navarrese guerrilla fighter Espoz y Mina during the Napoleonic French Invasion burned the palace with the aim to French could not make forts in it, which almost brought in ruin. It is since 1937 when architects José and Javier Yarnoz Larrosa began the rehabilitation (except the non-damaged church) for the castle palace, giving it back its original appearance and see today. The restoration work was completed in 1967 and was paid by the Foral Government of Navarre.

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