Hermitage Our Lady of Life
On the territory of Argelès on sea an old vault, Our Lady of Life is This church was perhaps the seat of an old parish, but we have not enough information to have the certainty of it. Other sources, more serious, accredit the presence of a priory who would be the true origin of the place. In fact both are possible, the priories being rather
appeared towards the XIII E century.
The first mention of Our Lady appears in 1293 under the name of loco vocato Madgalenes. Indeed, the church Our Lady of Life has a recent name, it was known initially under that of Marie-Magdeleine church. In 1312, it reappears ( ecclesia Sanctae Mariae Magdalenae ), then disappears from the texts to the XVII E century.
We cannot be sure of its destiny during its years but by analogy with others parishes its history becomes limpid. The presence of Argelès, in edge of sea and equipped with fortifications with fact of concentrating the populations of the surrounding valleys in the city, which has little with little désertifier neighbourhoods. The church Marie Magdeleine stopped her religious activity following a deficiency into faithful in the area.
This forgotten church will make however the beautiful days of the population to the XVII E century. It should be said that the end of the XVII E century marked a deep change in practice of the eremitism. Withdrawn hermits, seeking deepest spirituality by a poor material life, they had become monks in relation to the local life. The hermitages multiplied, recovering and modifying in-depth the old churches or vaults castrales, not inevitably far away from the villages.
The hermits were thus accessible. They were seen like people holding the knowledge, they had the capacity to judge a situation and to give councils. They are reflected to move, with to go in contact with the villagers with an aim of searching for their hermitages. Indeed, they had one role of reception of the travellers, and for this reason they were to ensure the receipts of what one would call today a list stage. These populations, in spite of this usual search, favoured rather what will become an institution. Catalan hospitality was also built on top.
Reconverted into hermitage at one time when they become à.la.mode, the vault Ste Marie Magdeleine will be transformed into 1666. She appears in 1688 among the list of the hermitages of Roussillon (hermita of Santa Magdaléna), then she will change patron saint in 1746, becoming the hermitage Our Lady of Life, name under which know we it today.
In 1790 the French revolution put at bottom certain pillars of the Church. In particular, goods of the Church are declared goods of State, and as such put on sale. Only will be able to escape from it them parish churches, which means that the hermitages of the department, although always desired by the inhabitants, were sold to private individuals or communes. The hermits disappeared, and it was the end of Our Lady of Life.
To also see near this hermitage, the interesting vault préromane, dating from X E century is dedicated to St Jerome.
In the early 20th century, Argelès-sur-Mer was a large, rural village living mainly on agriculture, breeding and craft industry. World War I decimated a generation: 122 young inhabitants of Argelès died in that war.
During the first half of the 20th century the town was beginning to be equipped with public services. Electricity appeared little by little (1910-1938) as well as running water. A rubbish collection service started (1923), the co-operative wine-cellar saw the light of day (1925), there were the first tourists on the beach playing tennis on the courts in the pine forest, going to the huts built on the sand or relaxing in bars and restaurants.
February 1939 was a turning point in the history of Argelès. As they were fleeing the Civil War and Franco’s military regime, 500,000 refugees crossed the frontier. A camp was urgently set up on the beach. Nearly 200,000 persons stayed in the camp. From time to time, there were nearly 80,000 persons surviving in awful conditions. The camp was closed in 1941.
After World War II, from where 22 children of the village never returned, and the necessary period of reconstruction (30% of the villas of the beach were destroyed by the German army), in the latter half of the century, the town developed thanks to tourism industry. Public services and infrastructures multiplied: waste water treatment plant (1957), schools, roads, public facilities, Gaston Pams stadium and refuse incineration plant (1971), swimming-pool (1972), cinema (1985), development area (1985), creation of Port Argelès (1989), development of the diversion road (1993), refuse disposal site (1993), social housing (1991 and 1998), multipurpose room (1999), restoration of the heart of the village (2002)…
In 2002, the creation of the Community of Municipalities of the Albères gathering the eight villages and towns of the district confirmed the place of Argelès as the central town of a living area of 25,000 inhabitants.
Over a century, Argelès has converted from a village into a small town combining tradition and modernity
