Château Royal

An idyllic port town, Collioure is reminiscent of Italy with pastel-colored stucco buildings and tile roofs against a backdrop of the deep Mediterranean sea. Collioure has long lured artists in appreciation of its beauty and setting. The heart of the port boasts narrow passageways that weave through a multitude of shops and restaurants, as well as access to a pretty little beach right in the town, protected and embraced by the breakwater. Center stage is Château Royal, which in its time served as both a strategic meeting point of the Mediterranean Sea and the Pyrenees mountains as well as a fortress. It was home to the Kings of Mallorca in the 13th and 14th centuries and was converted to a citadel in the 16th and 17th centuries.