Fenouillèdes

(Or them) the Fenouillèdes , more rarely and improperly the Fenouillède (in Occitan Fenolhedés/Catalan Fenolheda and in el Fenolledès/Fenolleda ) is a French natural area south of the France, in the the Eastern Pyrenees (Languedoc-Roussillon).

Like all the “natural” areas, the Fenouillèdes has fuzzy limits; one could define it as the part of the the Eastern Pyrenees which belonged already to France before the Traité of the Pyrenees, or as the part of this department where the native tongue was formerly occitane. This article chose the party geographically to extend this natural area by including there some communes of Catalan language which are in the geographical prolongation of the Languedocien zone.

Geography

Located in the department of the the Eastern Pyrenees, to the west of Perpignan, Fenouillèdes extends around the higher valley from the coastal river Agly. In north, they are bordered by the Corbières in the Aude, in the east by the Roussillon, in the south by the Conflent (valley of the Small fireclay cup), and in the west by the Pays of Sault. They correspond roughly to the cantons of Saint-Paul-with-Fenouillet, Sournia and Latour-of-France.

It is an area known for its Vin (Sweet wine). Some factories and careers of production of Feldspath constitute last persistent industries (Lesquerde - Maury).

The area culminates with more than 1300 m of altitude close to Rabouillet and the Forêt to Boucheville. One can distinguish two " parties" of Fenouillèdes, while speaking about altitude:

the Haut-Fenouillèdes , in the east, between Saint-Paul, Caudiès, Sournia and Rabouillet), field of the forest, and whose altitude lies between 300 and 1300 Mr.

the Bas-Fenouillèdes , in the west, where the vine dominates, between St-Paul, Estagel, Millas and Vinça, whose altitude lies between 60 and 800 m of altitude.

Climate

The climate of the area is typically Mediterranean, slightly attenuated by altitude, the proximity of the Pyrenean valleys, and the distance of the sea towards Caudiès-with-Fenouillèdes or Rabouillet.

Flora

One observes obviously flora of a Mediterranean type in Fenouillèdes. This vegetation is thus characterized by small trees the such olive-tree S, the Amandier S, the Figuier S, the holm oaks, shrubs such as the Ciste S, the Buis, of the plants the such Euphorbe, the lavender butterfly, the Fougère, the Fenouil, the wild Asperge, the Valériane (often called lilac of Spain )…

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