Llívia is a town of
Cerdanya,
province of Girona,
Catalonia,
Spain. It is an
exclave of
Spain and an
enclave of
France, within the French territory (
Pyrénées-Orientales département). In 2007, the municipality of Llivia had a total population of 1,388.
Llivia is separated from the rest of Spain by a corridor about 2 km (1.2 mi) wide, which includes the French communes of
Ur and
Bourg-Madame.
History
Llívia was the site of an
Iberian oppidum which commanded the region and was named
Julia Libica by the
Romans. It was the ancient capital of
Cerdanya in
antiquity, before being replaced by
Hix (
commune of
Bourg-Madame,
France) in the
Middle Ages. During the
Visigothic period, its citadel, the
castrum Libiae, was held by the rebel
Paul of Narbonne against king
Wamba in 672.
In 1659, the
Treaty of the Pyrenees ceded the
comarques of
Roussillon,
Conflent,
Capcir,
Vallespir, and
northern Cerdanya ("Cerdagne") to the French crown. Llívia did not become part of the French kingdom as the treaty stipulated that only villages were to be ceded to France, and Llívia was considered a city and not a village due to its status as the ancient capital of Cerdanya.
In 1939, at the end of the
Spanish Civil War, there was some discussion of Llívia remaining a free territory of the defeated Republican government, but this was never carried out.
Demography
Main activities
- Festcat. School for festivities and festivals.
Every second complete week in July, classes about traditional and popular festivities and festivals in Catalonia, and different performances by leading artists.
