Alénya

Alénya covers an area of {{convert|5.34|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, with 434 inhabitants per km². It is located about {{convert|10|km|mi|abbr=on}} from Perpignan and borders the municipalities of Saint-Nazaire, Canet-en-Roussillon, Saint-Cyprien, Elne, Corneilla del Vercol, Théza, and Saleilles. Alénya has a Mediterranean climate.

Alénya is located in the canton of La Plaine d'Illibéris and in the arrondissement of Perpignan. It is part of the Northern Catalan comarca of Rosselló.

File:Map commune FR insee code 66002.png

{{Adjacent communities|width=auto

| CENTER=Alénya

| NORTHWEST=Saleilles

| NORTH=Saint-Nazaire

| NORTHEAST=Canet-en-Roussillon

| WEST=Théza

| EAST=Saint-Cyprien

| SOUTHWEST=Corneilla del Vercol

| SOUTH=Elne

| SOUTHEAST=

}}

Alénya was first inhabited by the Celts and was conquered by the Romans in c. 121 BC. It was first mentioned in 904 in a document mentioning towns on the Elne.

Before 1214 Alénya was only a small hamlet with little importance. That was the year its first church was built. A second church which still stands today was built in 1593. Among its attractions is a statue of the Virgin Mary from the fifteenth century.[http://histoireduroussillon.free.fr/Villages/Histoire/Alenya.php Alénya History (in French)]

In 1790, the commune of Alénya is included into the canton of Elne, then part of the Perpignan district. It is moved to the canton of East-Perpignan in 1801, before being included into the canton of Perpignan-3 in 1973 and, finally, into the canton of La Côte Radieuse in 1982.Jean-Pierre Pélissier, Paroisses et communes de France : dictionnaire d'histoire administrative et démographique, vol. 66 : Pyrénées-Orientales, Paris, CNRS, 1986 Following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015, Alénya is now part of the canton of La Plaine d'Illibéris.Légifrance, [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000028664484 Décret n°2014-262 du 26 février 2014 portant délimitation des cantons dans le département des Pyrénées-Orientales.]

The people of Alénya are called Alényanais.

{{Historical populations

|source = INSEE[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-66002#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE

|percentages = pagr

|align = none

|1968 |678

|1975 |1006

|1982 |1211

|1990 |1562

|1999 |2318

|2007 |2846

|2012 |3283

|2017 |3601

}}

• The Sainte-Eulalie-et-Sainte-Julie church, built from 1593.
• The Ortaffa medieval house.
• The Pedra Martina, a medieval boundary stone.
• The Pompe Bonne, an old fountain.
• The former castle and Saint-Martin church of Boaça, both medieval and once located to the west of Alénya, were destroyed in 1974 to build a summer camp.

{{commons category|Alénya}}

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department

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{{Pyrénées-Orientales communes}}

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Category:Communes of Pyrénées-Orientales

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