The Village of La Llagonne

The vantage point

Pictorial analysis

1. “Mackintosh was looking north from the path beneath the church. This is a new combination of two views taken from the same place. The architecture of the foreground has been accurately rendered, although the yellow building in the centre left, either no longer exists or has been moved from the left. In the central plan, the isolated rock formation is actually located to the west.” Professor Pamela Robertson – University of Glasgow

2. Mackintosh shows us here a beautiful square format in which the overhead view and the vanishing perspective of the roof in the foreground draws the viewer’s gaze towards the dark surface that closes the composition at the top; the part attributed to the sky being almost non-existent. The graphic work, very present in the architectural parts, the wood pile, the fence, the plots of land, is supported by a beautiful harmony of cold colours which contrasts with the orange trees of the rock in the foreground and the roofs.

Historical guideline

Llagonne is a charming rural commune which is part of the Community of Communes Capcir Haut Conflent.  It currently has about 200 inhabitants.

This village is located after Mont Louis in the direction of Les Angles. It is located in Capcir country, a high plateau made up of an ancient glacial basin between the granite massifs of Carlit and Madrès.

The old village is dominated by two historical monuments perched on the top of a hilltop:

The church of Saint Vincent and the Capil tower, a former watchtower built in 1267 to prevent French invasions in the old days when Roussillon was part of the crown of Aragon.

The tower is now in ruins.

The history of the village begins in 811 with the conquest of Roussillon by Charlemagne.

In 866, the church of Saint-Vincent was founded.

In 1267, there is mention of a “castrum de ça Laguna”, which refers to a fortification. The circular tower of the fortified church is probably a remnant of this.

The tower above it is called “le Capil”. It was built in 1267 at the same time as the town’s fortifications to prevent French invasions.

The French-Aragonese border was then further north, at the pass, just past Puyvalador.

The tower played a warning role and was the central link in a system that was completed by the towers of Les Angles, Prats-Balaguer, Fetges, La Quillane and Ovansa.

According to Source : La Llagonne – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)

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