Salses-le-Château - Fortresse de Salses

15km/9mi north of Perpignan on the Etang de Leucate is Salses (alt. 12 m/40ft; pop. 2,000). The fort of Salses, built on the Via Domitia, the old Roman road from Narbonne to Spain, commands a narrow passage between the Mediterranean and the hilly hinterland, a route followed by Hannibal during his campaign against Rome. The fort was built by the Spaniards in the 15th C. and altered by Vauban in the late 17th C. From the five-story tower there are fine views in all directions.