A Saturday morning in Ceret can make the market a useful point of reference for planning your time: it takes place in the town centre. Modern and contemporary art, collections of musical instruments and buildings from different centuries also offer specific themes to help you choose a destination. These highlights can help you decide what interests you most during your stay.
Weekly market: a regular date with seasonal variety
Ceret’s weekly market takes place every Saturday morning in the town centre. Depending on the season, it features between 100 and 200 travelling vendors. This range gives an indication of its size, not a fixed number of vendors for every season. So if the market is one of your reasons for travelling, Saturday morning is the specific point to keep in mind when planning your time.
Producers and craftspeople offer a wide variety of food there, including fruit and vegetables, seafood, cheese, pastries, honey, olives and wine, as well as other food products. The selection therefore brings together different types of products, rather than focusing on a single speciality. If you’re interested in food and market life, the main things to bear in mind are the regular market day and its changing seasonal scale.
Art and music collections
The Musée d’Art Moderne de Ceret was founded in 1950 by Pierre Brune and Frank Burty Haviland. It houses nearly 300 works on display and more than 2,700 objects of modern and contemporary art. Collection figures may change as displays are updated. The museum combines a permanent exhibition with temporary exhibitions and offers educational and interpretive activities for all audiences. Exhibition programmes and activities may change.
Another attraction is the Musée de la Musique, with traditional and popular instruments from around the world. The collection includes oboes, flutes, string instruments and percussion, among other instruments. The museum is located in the former Hôpital Saint-Pierre, a building constructed in 1649 and listed as a historic monument. Here, musical instruments from different traditions meet the history of a historic building. If you’re choosing what to explore, Ceret offers a focus both on modern and contemporary art and on instruments and music.
Fortifications, a bridge and architectural history
The Ancien portal de France is part of Ceret’s former fortifications. The structure consists of two towers and a vaulted passage; since 1949, it has been included in the supplementary inventory of historic monuments. The Église Saint-Pierre brings together pre-Romanesque and Romanesque architecture with elements from the 14th and 18th centuries. These two examples show how different historical layers coexist in the town’s architectural history.
The Pont du Diable is a stone bridge dating from the 14th century. From the 14th to the 20th century, it served as the main route connecting the two banks of the Tech. This describes the bridge’s history, not its present-day role in traffic. The Château d’Aubiry is also listed as a historic monument in its entirety. The listed grounds include the chapel, greenhouses, gardener’s house, terraces, park, all buildings within the estate’s enclosure, and the Oratoire Sainte-Marguerite.
Natural areas and routes nearby
Ceret is home to the Tech Natura 2000 site and four ZNIEFF areas. The Ermitage Saint-Ferréol is another option for a walk in the surrounding area; it can be reached on foot from the Pont du Diable car park. The walk is listed as taking one and a half hours. Check trail conditions locally before setting off; the stated duration alone does not indicate the level of difficulty.
Another option is to start the “Sur les traces des ancêtres de Galipan” route at the Vallespir intercommunal tourist office in Ceret. Route information and related details may change. The market, museums, buildings and trails thus offer different ways to plan your trip: a regular Saturday event, cultural attractions with distinct focuses, and a walk with a stated duration.
Discover more destinations: Cassagnes, Montner, Sournia, Arles-Sur-Tech, BĂ©lesta, Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, Thuir, Prades.
For the regional travel overview: Pyrénées-Orientales.
