"Cello prince" Pablo Casals made Prades -subprefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales- an internationally renowned cultural centre. Forced to leave Franco's Spain, Pablo Casals settled in Prades in 1939. After years of silence, he agreed to perform in public once again in the Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa abbey. Well-known artists and the general public alike flocked to Prades to hear the master player. This renown led to various activities: Romanesque days, international film encounters, Catalan summer school and the Pablo Casals classical music festival among others...

Saint-Pierre church houses one of the biggest Baroque altarpieces in France, made in 1699 by Spanish sculptor Joseph Sunyer. Altarpieces retrace the life of Christ and saints through painted or sculpted images. From Roussillon to the Cerdagne, many plain-looking churches house such splendid treasures of Baroque art.

Prades is home to one of the biggest Baroque altarpieces in France

 

Conflent valley

Saint-Michel-de Cuxa abbey set among cherry trees	The Confluent is a long valley through which winds the Têt. It thrusts deep into the mountains. The geological variety of its subsoil, particularly rich in iron, led to intense mining activities in the past, now abandoned.

Spa towns such as Moligt-les-Bains and fortified villages are scattered along the roadside. Orchards grow in the huge basin at the entrance to the valley. Conflent boasts many wonders of Romanesque art, such as the abbeys of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa and Saint-Martin-du-Canigou, or Serrabone priory.

Canigou mountain

		The Canigou has been surrounded by myths ever since ancient times. It provides an awe-inspiring backdrop to the Conflent valley. Thought to be the highest mountain in Europe up to the XVIIIth century, it peaks at 2,784 m.

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