Our heritage, a HISTORY !
Leucate comes from the greek "Leukos", which means "white", Laucata en occitan language...
Lake village during the Middle Age, impregnable fortress in the Renaissance ; the geographical situation of the peninsula of Leucate made of it a priviledged lookout of the coming ennemies from Aragon and Spain.
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From Leucate castle, you can first have a look to the pond, then the Mediterranean sea, the Canigou Mountain and finally the Alberes chain mountains
Troughout five centuries, the fortified place of Leucate was used as the guardian of the boundary between the kingdoms of France and Aragon.
After the signature of the Pyrenean Treaty in 1659, Louis the XIV ordered to destroy the castle.
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The Redoute of Haute Franqui, built during the reign of Louis XIV, is the last vestige of the 3 forts wich guarded Leucate and its coasts.
The cliff and the "plateau" were also used by German soldiers during the second World War, indeed you can still observe bunkers and undergrounds.
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Françoise de Cezelly, she's the heroine of Leucate. She's the one who sacrified her husband to save Leucate from the Spanish assault during the capture of the city in 1590.
Her statue proudly stand again on the Place de la République since 2007. The original statue has been unbolt during the German Occupation to recover the bronze.
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Henry de Monfreid, seas traveler, adventurer and writer, choose to built his house "La villa d'Amélie", in la Franqui, his port of registrery.
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