Prades (Pyrénées-Orientales)

**Prades** ( or, simply, _Prada_) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It was the capital of the historic Catalan comarque of Conflent.

It is a subprefecture in the department and the capital of the Prades _arrondissement_.

## Name of the city

In Catalan, the name of the _commune_ is _Prada_, a word that comes from the Latin word _prata_ ("prairie").

## Geography

Prades is the main ciy of the Conflent, a natural region of the Pyrénées-Orientales; it is at the foothill of the Canigou mountain, to the west of Perpignan. The Têt river flows through the city.

It has an area of  and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .

The _commune_ is at  from Perpignan. It is surrounded by the _communes_ Catllar, Eus, Los Masos, Clara, Taurinya, Codalet, Ria-Sirach.

### Climate

The climate in Prades in the Köppen climate classification is **Cfb** - Oceanic climate with template summers.

## Population

The inhabitants of Prades city are known, in French, as _Pradéens_ (women: _Pradéennes_); _Pradencs_ and _Pradenques in Catalan_.

With a population in 2014 of 5,927, Prades has a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>.

**Evolution of the population in Prades**

## Administration

Prades is a subprefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department since 1790. It is also the capital of the _arrondissement_ of Prades and the administrative centre () of the canton Les Pyrénées catalanes with 62 _communes_ and 26,765 inhabitants in 2014.

It is part of the intercommunality _Conflent Canigó_ ().

### Twinned and partner towns

Prades is twinned with:
- Ripoll, Spain, from 1969
- Kitzingen, Germany, from 1984
- Lousã, Portugal, from 1991

## Sites of interest

Some places of interest in or around Prades are:
- **Saint-Peter church** with its bell-tower
- **Saint-Martin de Canoha** (_Sant Marti de Canoa_) chapel
- **Jacomet House**, dating back from the XVth century

## People from or related to Prades

- Pierre Nicolas Camille Jacquelin du Val (1828-1862), entomologist born in Prades.
- Thomas Merton (1915–1968),  trappist monk born in Prades.

Prades was also the adopted home of cellist Pablo Casals and grammarian Pompeu Fabra during their exile from the Spanish Civil War. A small museum in Prades commemorates Casals.

## Related pages

- Arrondissement of Prades
- Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department

## Other websites

- Mairie de Prades website
- Prades tourist information office
- Universitat Catalana d'Estiu (Catalan Summer University)

## Infobox (french commune)

- **name**: Prades
- **image coat of arms**: Blason ville fr Prades 66.svg
- **image coat of arms size**: 85px
- **image**: 002Prades HD.jpg
- **caption**: View of Prades
- **arrondissement**: Prades
- **canton**: Les Pyrénées catalanes
- **intercommunality**: Conflent-Canigó
- **mayor**: Jean Castex
- **party**: Union for a Popular Movement, UMP
- **term**: 2014 - 2020
- **elevation m**: 523
- **elevation min m**: 300
- **elevation max m**: 745
- **area km2**: 10.87
- **population demonym**: Pradéens
- **population**: 5927
- **population date**: 2014
- **insee**: 66149
- **postal code**: 66500
- **website**: [http://www.prades.com/ Official website]