Corneilla de Conflent has a prestigious past being the capital city of the Conflent region for some time

Prehistory

Human pre-historic remains have been found in Corneilla which date back to 60,000 BC. They were found in a cave and consisted of the bones. There were also remnants of food, fires and cut stones.

Capital Corneilla of Cerdagne

Under the count Guifred le Veluthe, the summer capital of Cerdagne was moved here remained for one century. (The winter capital was Hix). The village was protected by the castle Comtal of which ruins are still evident.

In 1004 the first Romanesque church was built. A second church was also nearby the castle and this is mentioned in a document dated 1018. However, remains of this have never been found.

During the 11th century the village (1094), the count Guillaume-Raymond died while leaving a will that he wished to have a religious community in the church of Corneilla. His son carried out this wish on March 4, 1097 by instituting one community of canons to live there under the rule of Saint Augustin. This community received the seigniory of Corneilla and the city lost its status as Capital of Cerdagne from this point.

During the 12th century Augustins further built up the church and dedicated it to Ste Marie. This was further modified in the 14th century. It nowadays contains three remarkable statues, all renovated recently: Notre Dame de Corneilla (12th century), a romanesque virgin, Notre Dame de la Crêche (14th Century), from the abbey of St Michel de Cuxa, and another romanesque virgin (13th century), from Barcelona.