Port-Vendres located just a few yards from Collioure on the road which goes along the sea in the direction of Spain, was in the antiquity a stopover for the boats connecting the city Agde to the Hispanic coast.


Its name "Port of Venus", coming of its Latin name "Portus Veneris" would have been adopted from Romans who would have built a temple to the glory of Venus. This town was a real naval base under the reign of King Louis XIV, thanks to a man called Vauban

The biggest changes were realized under King Louis XVI with the enlargement of its port and the implementation of the wonderful Royal place with its fountains and its pink marbled obelisk, with a sphere surmounted by a flower of Lily. Stuck between mountain and sea, this marvellous sea resort, with its small pink church in Spanish style, its nice restaurants, its shops, its animations all around the year will attract you.

Don't forget to have a look at : the fortress Béart, destroyed by the Nazis during the Second World war but afterwards restored.

For any information or demand of documentation, please, contact the Office of Port-Vendres's tourism.

Credit text : Tourinfos - Credit photo : advertising Brochure "Mediterranean banks Côté Soleil" CDT