Église Notre-Dame-des-Anges

The Église Notre-Dame-des-Anges is the most-photographed image of Collioure: a pink-domed baroque church beside the harbour, its bell tower a converted medieval lighthouse rising directly from the water. The church was built in the 17th century in a baroque style that reflects the Spanish-Catalan culture of the region, with elaborate altar pieces inside painted by local artists of the period. The interior contains seven baroque altarpieces, the most important of which — a large triptych — is attributed to the Catalan artist Joseph Sunyer.

The church sits at the edge of the main beach, beside the château. Its position means it appears in virtually every view of the town, and it was painted by Matisse, Derain, and several other artists during their Collioure summers in the early 1900s. The light on the pink dome in the late afternoon, with the sea reflecting the sun behind, is genuinely extraordinary.

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A story
The round tower that serves as the church's bell tower was originally the lighthouse guiding ships into the harbour of Collioure. When the present church was built in the 17th century, incorporating the medieval lighthouse as its tower, the lighthouse was painted pink and given a dome to suit its new ecclesiastical role. It remained a functioning lighthouse until 1864, making it simultaneously a lighthouse and a church bell tower for nearly two centuries. The unusual combination — sacred building incorporating practical navigation infrastructure — appears to have disturbed nobody at the time.