Site de Paulilles

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Part industrial relic, part nature walk, this 35-hectare coastal site is remote, as you'd expect of a one-time dynamite factory. It was set up by Nobel Prize founder Alfred Nobel in 1870 and subsequently abandoned in 1984. Haunting photos inside the former director’s house depict the hard lives and close community of Catalan workers, whose explosives helped to blast the Panama Canal, Trans-Siberian Railway and Mont Blanc Tunnel. It's 3.2km north of Banyuls-sur-Mer.

The main path leads to a lovely shingle-sand beach.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Salvador Dali museum

    Teatre-Museu Dalí

    18.16 MILES

    The first name that pops into your head when you lay eyes on this red castle-like building, topped with giant eggs and stylised Oscar-like statues and…

  • Casa Museu Dalí

    Casa Museu Dalí

    16.68 MILES

    Overlooking a peaceful cove in Port Lligat, a tiny fishing settlement 1km northeast of Cadaqués, this magnificent seaside complex was the residence and…

  • Greco-Roman archaeological sites of Ampurias (Empuries) in the Gulf of Roses, Catalonia, Spain.

    Empúries

    25.48 MILES

    The evocative seaside archaeological site of Empúries, 1.5km northwest of central L'Escala, immerses you in a strategic Greek, and later Roman, trading…

  • Museum of modern art, Ceret, France.

    Musée d’Art Moderne

    19.12 MILES

    Roussillon had its artistic heyday around the turn of the 20th century, when Fauvist and cubist artists flocked here, attracted by the searing colours and…

  • The Monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes.

    Monestir de Sant Pere de Rodes

    12.52 MILES

    Views of distant Pyrenean peaks and the deep-blue Mediterranean combine with a spectacular piece of Romanesque architecture at this hillside monastery,…

  • Palais des Rois de Majorque, Perpignan, France

    Palais des Rois de Majorque

    17.62 MILES

    Perpignan’s most dominant monument, the Palace of the Kings of Mallorca sprawls over a huge area to the south of the old town. Built in 1276, the castle…

  • Orgues d'Ille-sur-Têt

    Orgues d'Ille-sur-Têt

    28.35 MILES

    These rock formations must be one of the most striking geological wonders in Occitanie, though they have remained well under the tourist radar. They…

  • Musée de Préhistoire de Tautavel

    Musée de Préhistoire de Tautavel

    28.75 MILES

    The cave-riddled cliffs above Tautavel, 34km northwest of Perpignan along the D117, have yielded a host of prehistoric finds, most notably a human skull…

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Nearby attractions

1. Biodiversarium

1.68 MILES

At the southern end of Banyuls’ seafront promenade, this aquarium, which was modernised in 2017, houses an intriguing collection of Mediterranean marine…

2. Fort St-Elme

1.86 MILES

Built in 1552 by Spanish king Charles V between Collioure and Port-Vendre, this hilltop fort was designed as a key piece of the coastal defence system. It…

4. Moulin de la Cortina

2.22 MILES

The most scenic way to reach this 14th-century windmill is a 950m walk through olive and almond groves from Fort St-Elme along the Cami del Port de Sant…

5. Musée d’Art Moderne

2.32 MILES

Boat sketches by Matisse and Edouard Pignon along with coastal canvases by Henri Martin and Henri Marre are among the highlights of this small but…

6. Château Royal

2.51 MILES

Collioure’s seaside castle was mostly built between 1276 and 1344 by the counts of Roussillon and the kings of Aragon, and was later occupied by the…

7. Église Notre-Dame des Anges

2.54 MILES

At the northern end of the harbour, the medieval belfry of this church once doubled as a lighthouse, although its pink dome – the signature feature of…