Port-Vendres

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Coordinates: 42°31′08″N 3°06′21″E / 42.5188888889, 3.10583333333

Administration
Commune of Port-Vendres View of Port-Vendres
Location

Country	France
Region	Languedoc-Roussillon
Department	Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement	Céret
Canton	Côte Vermeille
Mayor	Jean Capallère (2001–2008)
Statistics
Elevation	0 m–655 m (avg. 23 m)
Land area^¹	14.77 km²
Population^² (1999)	5,881
- Density	398/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	66148/ 66660
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Port-Vendres (Catalan: Portvendres) is a commune of the Pyrénées-Orientales département, in France.

A typical Mediterranean fishing port, situated near the Spanish border on the cote Vermeille in south west France, Port-Vendres is renowned for its numerous fish and sea food restaurants. You can watch the fishing boats arriving with their daily catch. It is also a major marina in the region.

[edit] Fete de Mailly

In commemoration of the placing of the first stone of the obelisk in Port Vendres, on the orders of the Maréchal de France, comte de Mailly, the Fete de Mailly takes place every September. The day begins with a fancy dress parade through the streets followed by a re-enactment of the placing of the first stone, circus workshops, historical games, rides in a carriage, concert Xim Xim (traditional dance music of central France) sardanes, catalan ballet, enactment of a pirate fight, jeu de foulard (bandana game), etc.

Count Joseph Augustin De Mailly d'Haucourt was born in April 1707 at Corbiom, Villaines-sous-Lucé, in the Sarthe. In 1726, he entered military service as a musketeer, and in 1749 was appointed lieutenant general for the Roussillon and commander in chief of the province. In true "musketeer" style, he was exiled by the king in 1753 for having "stolen" one of the king's mistresses but in 1758, was reinstated as commander in chief, a post which he continued to hold until 1790

De Mailly was the driving force behind the creation of Port-Vendres as a port, and followed plans originally conceived by Vauban to open up and enlarge the existing facilities. From 1776–78, land was dug out and quais were created. As a foil to the enormous amount of construction of flat concrete, De Mailly called in Charles De Wailly, architect and painter to the king, to build the obelisk which has now become a focal point of Port-Vendres. The first stone was placed on September 28, 1780, by Mailly's wife, Felicite de Narbonne Pelet, and witnessed by much of the Roussillon nobility.