Latour-de-Carol La Tor de Querol
Commune
Railway station
Coat of arms
Location of Latour-de-Carol
Latour-de-Carol Show map of France Latour-de-Carol Show map of Occitanie
Coordinates: 42°27′57″N 1°53′23″E / 42.4658°N 1.8897°E / 42.4658; 1.8897
Country	France
Region	Occitania
Department	Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement	Prades
Canton	Les Pyrénées catalanes
Intercommunality	Pyrénées Cerdagne
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Cécile Houyau[1]
Area 1	12.63 km2 (4.88 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2021)[2]	461
• Density	37/km2 (95/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	66095 /66760
Elevation	1,209–2,080 m (3,967–6,824 ft) (avg. 1,248 m or 4,094 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Latour-de-Carol (French pronunciation: [latuʁ də kaʁɔl] ^ⓘ; Catalan: La Tor de Querol) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.^[3]

Geography

Localization

Latour-de-Carol is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades.

Transport

The village's main claim to fame is as the site of the international railway station, Gare de Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg (Catalan: La Tor de Querol-Enveig). This station is the terminus of three lines, each with different gauges:

• the Spanish state operator Renfe's 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in) gauge line running south to Barcelona via Ripoll
• the French state operator SNCF's 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge line running north to Toulouse via Foix
• SNCF's 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge line (known as the Yellow Train) running east to Villefranche-de-Conflent

As the French and Spanish tracks are different gauges, no trains run the whole way from Toulouse to Barcelona. Passengers have to change trains, which are however no longer scheduled to offer direct connections. Occasional freight-trains cross the border and are worked to Puigcerda, where freight is transferred. The double-track line to Puigcerda consists of two separate tracks with different gauges and electrified at different currents.

European route E09 and part of the Route nationale 20 connect Latour-de-Carol with Bourg-Madame (near the border with Spain) and Foix.

Population

History

The first traces of habitation date from 600 BC. and are located on the site of the hamlet of Iravals.^[5] The population moved from the 13th century around the hamlet of Latour-de-Carol, partly abandoning Iravals.

On February 1, 1837, the commune of Porta was created by detachment from Latour-de-Carol.^[6]

Historical monuments

• L'ancienne église Saint-Fructueux d'Iravals (XIIc.) est située au hameau éponyme. (Classified as a Monument historique in 1963).
• The church of Saint-Étienne is located on a slight rise to the south of the village. It dates from the 15th century. A reused wooden panel was discovered there at the beginning of the 20th century, used to close the left side of the altar of Saint Sebastian which turned out to come from an altarpiece made by Antoine Peytavi (c.1540-1592) for the Saint-Fructueux chapel in Latour-de-Carol. It was restored and classified as a Monument historique on May 24, 1932.