Puigcerdà

Around 1177, Alfonso II of Aragon moved the capital of the Cerdanya from Hix to what would become Puigcerdà, granting the new town legal status and agreeing to the construction of a church dedicated to Santa María de Urgel. The site was almost certainly inhabited before this, with archaeological finds dating to 1094 and older references to an "Oppidum Ceretanum" — a fortified place — that scholars identify with this town alone among the Cerdanya settlements. Walls and fortifications went up from 1270, and by 1342 the circuit had nine gates.

The town suffered serious fires in 1281 and 1309, and the Catalan earthquake of 1428 caused further destruction. Its artificial lake was created in 1260 by royal grant from Sancho I of Mallorca, originally to irrigate surrounding farmland. During the Franco-Spanish War, French troops took the town in October 1654; it was returned to Spain by the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659.

It later served briefly as the prefecture of the département of Segre under the French Empire.

The bell tower of Santa María de Puigcerdà still stands, though the church itself was destroyed in 1936 at the outbreak of the Civil War. Elsewhere in town you can visit the Romanesque church of Sant Tomàs de Ventajola, the Convent of San Domingo, and the Hospital de Puigcerdà. The artificial lake, created in 1260, remains a central feature of the town.

Puigcerdà is within reach of four airports: Barcelona El Prat, Girona, Perpignan-Rivesaltes in France, and Andorra–La Seu d'Urgell (mainly charter flights). By road, the main approach from Manresa passes through the Cadí Tunnel (toll). The Eix Pirinenc highway connects westward to La Seu d'Urgell and eastward to Ripoll.

Roads also cross into France toward Bourg-Madame, and onward to Andorra or Perpignan. Local food to look for includes trinxat (potato, winter cabbage and bacon), duck with turnips, sautéed mushrooms with garlic, and garlic soup made with bread.