"Perpignan" Perpignan by Aunt_Bertha

Perpignan has a fantastically colorful old city, which is called Perpinyà in Catalan. In fact, not only the old city, but the whole city is called Perpinyà in Catalan. It is located close to the Spanish border in the Catalan region of Southern France, which turns into the Catalan region of Northern Spain once you've crossed the Pyrenees. Many years ago Perpignan (a.k.a. Perpinyà) was the continental capital of the Kingdom of Majorca (a.k.a. Mallorca) because Majorca is an island and thus cannot possess a continental capital.

Perpignan was founded by the Romans as "Villa Perpiniarum", in other words it started with one house (the villa of the Perpiniarum family), which is also often the case with journeys, but they usually start with one step.

Perpignan became world famous when the equally world famous painter Salvador Dali discovered that this city's railway station is the center of the world. I'll have to take his word for it because I don't know any other center of the world, just perhaps the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv, although it might be slightly off-centered. Rumor has it that the Azrieli Center actually is the center of the universe and not just the center of the world. I'm very proud and excited that I've had the chance to visit both the center of the world and the center of the universe.

• Pros:Perpignan's railway station is the center of the world.
• Cons:Perpignan's railway station is not the center of the universe - that's the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv.
• In a nutshell:Perpignan is a well-centered city.