The 36 Communes
City of Ponteilla
Ponteilla-Nyls is surrounded by vineyards. At the foot of the Canigou, the village is situated in the heart of the Aspres vineyards. Ponteilla-Nyls can be seen from afar thanks to its two bell towers. The surface area of the commune is 1,378 hectares and its altitude varies between 52 and 153 metres.
The story
The first official mention of the village dates from 1180 under the name of "Villa de Saint-Nicolas de Aquaviva", but the place was already known to the Romans since ruins of the "Villa Pontiliano" of that period were found in 1835. Ponteilla is found in a document of Uldagar de Castelnou who owned the third part of the tithe of the church of Ponteilla. As he was not only Viscount of Castelnou but also Bishop of Elne, he naturally decided to give this third part of the tithe to the bishopric
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Ponteillanais
Number of inhabitants
The town of Ponteilla-Nyls has approximately 2,885 inhabitants. Its inhabitants are called the Ponteillanais.
the village with two steeples
Its two bell towers do not correspond to two churches: the first, which announces the hours, surmounts a beautiful door of cairous (Catalan brick), the second belongs to the church, a building of Romanesque origin, profoundly altered over the centuries. This church is dedicated to Saint Stephen. The village has its roots in prehistory (numerous sites have revealed traces of occupation) and became Villa Pontiliano under Roman rule (several villas have been recorded, including a very important one at the Camp de la Torre and a potters' workshop producing mainly wine amphorae).
In medieval times, it was a church from the 11th century and a seigniorial house surrounded by ramparts in the 13th century, also enclosing a cellera like all the strongholds of the Aspres. Because of its perched location, Ponteilla was part of the circuit of watchtowers.
