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kilometres from Perpignan, north of the village of Salses, is
the limit of Catalonia and the beginning of the Languedoc region.
The gateway of Catalonia materialises on the frontier-line of
the area. Constructed like an open door, characteristic of the
union between the two cultures, this monument was inaugurated
in 2003 and is the work of the sculptor Emili Armengol.
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This
creation, conceived of in 1987, has received the support of
the local communities, the associative fabric, the Generalitat
de Catalunya (South Catalonian government), certain businesses
and the thousands of residents who particularly desired a physical
signal of the frontier. The door is largely open, installed
on a plateau of the arid mountains of the Corbières,
it imposes itself on the view. It is visible from the Autoroute
A9, the National Road 9 and the railway line (which almost traces
the ancient Roman path Via Domitia). The strategic site on which
the sculpture is enthroned is neighbours with the Salses castle,
the Catalan fort constructed in the 15th Century to defend the
border between France and Catalonia. The door’s resolute metal
arch, recalls the four bars on the Catalan flag. It symbolises
the meeting of the eight winds of the region and evokes the
gateway to Europe and to Catalonia. At a height of 12 metres,
this Porta dels Països Catalans, is becoming a place of
pilgrimage blessed with a view of the unique panorama of sea
and lagoons, Catalan and Occitan alike. In the European landscape
marked by dynamic regions the Porta dels Països Catalans
gives an impression of the territory, it signifies the anchors
of Catalanity and the popular will to maintain that identity.
Open to the Tramuntana and to visitors, this monument is the
first and last landmark for travelers who are entering or leaving
Catalonia.
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