Château Royal de Collioure
17th century fortress in Colliure, Occitania, France
The Château Royal de Collioure (Catalan: Castell Reial de Cotlliure) is a massive French beach fortified royal castle in the town of Collioure, a few kilometers north of the Spanish border in the French département of Pyrénées-Orientales.
History of the Castle of Collioure
The Château is the juxtaposition of at least four castles.
Roussillon was conquered by the Romans around 120 BC and then occupied by the Visigoths from 418. The first mention is about a fortified site in Collioure under siege in 673, by Wamba, king of the Visigoths who lay siege to the "Castellum Caucolibéri" to subdue a rebellion.
Castle of the Templars
In the 12th century, Girard II, the last independent count of the Roussillon, bequeathed his land to Alfons II, King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona. Concerned about the prosperity of Collioure, the kings of Aragon granted privileges and tax exemptions. An annual fair was established, and important works were undertaken in the castle, the port and the town. The Knights Templar built the castle around 1207. In 1276, it was integrated into the royal castle.
Kings of Majorca
A second castle was later built by the Kings of Majorca during the 13th and 14th centuries.
“Château Royal de Collioure” enters the record as 17th century fortress in Colliure, Occitania, France. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Château, Royal and Collioure can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Château Royal de Collioure” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Château, Royal and Collioure provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2356811. VIAF identifies the subject as 313193547. Authority coordinates are 42.526, 3.085. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1207 and 1276.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Château Royal de Collioure” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.