FRANCE	FRANCE
région: Occitanie
département: 66, Pyrénées-Orientales

map →

Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via (in Occitan: Font-romeu, Odelló i Vià) is situated at an elevation of 1562 m in the département Pyrénées-Orientales, canton Les Pyrénées catalanes just 1–2 km northeast from the Spanish exclave Llívia. The municipality has a population of about 1,900 (2014).

Odeillo and Via are both mentioned for the first time in 839 among the places paying a fee to the church of La Seu d'Urgell. Nevertheless, Odeillo was at the time part of the County of Cerdanya, while Via was a property of the Urg family. In 1035, the count of Cerdanya donated Odeillo to abbey of Saint-Martin-du-Canigou. Via remained a property of the Urg family until the 13th century and was then bought by the viscount of Fenouillet and Ille. At Font-Romeu, a chapel was mentioned in 1525, still in the territory of Odeillo. It already hosted a statue of the Virgin Mary from the 13th century; a hermitage was built in 1693 to receive the pilgrims. Odeillo and Via both become communes in 1790. The commune of Via was abolished and included into Odeillo in 1822. Since 2011, Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via is part of the Communauté de communes Capcir Haut-Conflent.

The Massif du Carlit (or Massif du Carlitte) [background] is part of the eastern Pyrénées, between the départements Ariè and Pyrénées-Orientales (Cerdagne and Capcir regions), to the northwest of Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via. Its highest elevation is the Pic Carlit (2,921 m).

Glass no. 0000 is labeled Vue générale et le Carlitte / Pèlerinarge, station d'été à 1765 mètres d'altitude.

Pilgrimage site is the Ermitage Notre-Dame de Font-Romeu, built in the 17th century and remodeled in the 18th century on the site of an ancient oratory. The statue of the Virgin of Font-Romeu dates from the 12th century. In an annual procession (Baixar or Despedida), the statue is carried to the church of Odeillo on 8 September (or the earest Sunday) where it remains during winter. In the following spring, on Trinity Sunday, it is brought back (Pujar) to the hermitage where it spends the summer.

[https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via; http://www.fallingrain.com/world/FR/A9/FontRomeu.html; https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pic_Carlit, https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massif_du_Carlit; https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ermitage_Notre-Dame_de_Font-Romeu]