Villefranche-de-Conflent

Villefranche-de-Conflent Vilafranca de Conflent
A view of Villefranche from Fort Liberia
Coat of arms
Villefranche-de-Conflent
Location within Occitanie region  Villefranche-de-Conflent
Coordinates: 42°35′17″N 2°22′07″E / 42.5881°N 2.3686°E / 42.5881; 2.3686Coordinates: 42°35′17″N 2°22′07″E / 42.5881°N 2.3686°E / 42.5881; 2.3686
Country	France
Region	Occitanie
Department	Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement	Prades
Canton	Les Pyrénées catalanes
Government
• Mayor (2001–2008)	François Galte
Area1	4.46 km2 (1.72 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	244
• Density	55/km2 (140/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code	66223 /66500
Elevation	390–1,395 m (1,280–4,577 ft) (avg. 432 m or 1,417 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Villefranche-de-Conflent (Catalan: Vilafranca de Conflent) is historically a town in the Conflent region of Catalonia, and now a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.

Villefranche-de-Conflent is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades.

The town's confined site, at about 440 m above sea level, is relatively level ground surrounded by

The N116 from Perpignan on the Mediterranean passes, as a two-lane highway, between the southern town wall and an embankment cut into the high ground to the south; this route continues west into the adjacent Cerdagne region.

The town's train station starts and ends the route of the scenic Yellow train.

The original town dates from 1098, and was fortified because of its strategic position in lands that changed hands between French and Spanish occupation.

The defensive walls of the town remain.