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/km2.

**Evolution of the population in Prades**

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 bar:2011 at: 5854 fontsize:S text: 5,854 shift:(-13,5)
 bar:2014 at: 5927 fontsize:S text: 5,927 shift:(-13,5)

## 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.

## Gallery 

File:Pams.jpg|City hall, Prades
File:Prades MaisonJacomet.jpg|Prades: Jacomet House, dating back from the XVth century
File:Villefranchekostelnivez.JPG|Prades: Saint-Peter church
File:Prades EgliseSaintPierre 01.jpg|Prades: Saint-Peter church bell tower

## Related pages
* Arrondissement of Prades
* Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department

## References
## Other websites
* Mairie de Prades website 
* Prades tourist information office 
* Universitat Catalana d'Estiu (Catalan Summer University)