Mountain village
Llívia is a town in the comarca of Cerdanya, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is a Spanish exclave surrounded by the French département of Pyrénées-Orientales. It is named after Livia, the wife of Augustus and matriarch of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Because of a technicality in the Treaty of the Pyrenees, signed in 1659, that transferred only "villages" in the Pyrenees to France, Llívia, which was a "town", remains under Spanish control. The Segre river, a tributary of the Spanish Ebro, flows through Llívia. It has a population of 1,562 (register office, 2025).
Llívia is separated from the rest of Spain by a corridor approximately 1.6 km (1.0 mile) wide, which includes the French communes of Ur and Bourg-Madame. This corridor is traversed by a road, owned by both France (where it is part of Route nationale 20 and RD68) and Spain (where it is part of N-154). Before the implementation of the Schengen Area in 1995, it was considered a "neutral road", a custom-free route with access for both French and Spanish people; since 1995, there have been no formal borders. The two countries share a hospital in Puigcerdà (which lies close to Llívia), as well as other local initiatives.
Llívia is the site of the Esteve Pharmacy, in Llívia's municipal museum, which has a large albarello display as well as antique drugs and a collection of prescription books. It is also the site of Llívia castle, which is in ruins.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
5 photographs of Llívia, taken here and in its own light.
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