Cucugnan Fountain

The site of the Pégugnan Fountain (commonly known as the Cucugnan Fountain) is located 200 meters from the village of Paziols.

The root of "Pegugnan" is found in the Occitan term "pegula": heifer; in Occitan the heifer is written "pegulha" and "lo peguhar" is a place where the herds graze; this term also designates the guardian of the cattle herd.

This same term means the dowry (long paid in kind by the future wife).

The old texts report that at the beginning of the 13th century, Sybille de Paziols married Guilherm de Cucugnan; the Cucugnan family is allied with Raimond de Termes who owns many lands in the Tuchan-Paziols plain as well as the Aguilar Castle; the marriage of Sybille and Guilherm née Véziade who later married Ferrand de Solier; it is likely that the Fountain belongs to Véziade de Cucugnan who would have brought it as a dowry to her husband; hence the name in modern times of "Cucugnan Fountain".

The situation of the Cucugnan Fountain:

At the foot of a hill flows, summer and winter, a small trickle of water in a pudding bench (rock made up of an agglomerate of pebbles more or less round and ovoid).

It follows from the topography of the places and research carried out on old documents that this site was occupied from the Gallo-Roman period; mention is made of the existence of two Gallo-Roman villas.

However, no survey having been carried out on this site, no archaeological vestige has come to support this hypothesis; but we know that the presence of water played a primordial role in the foundation of villa in Gallo-Roman times.

In the Middle Ages, areas of gardens as well as cereals were exploited on small plots upstream of the source; their presence was linked to water and to a system that allowed watering downstream.

Until 2006, the Cucugnan Fountain site was owned by Maître Albert MALAVIALE, former president of the bar at Perpignan; interested in the works and projects of the association created in 1995 on local heritage, wished to donate this property to the municipality of Paziols; this donation was effective in 2006; the municipality of Paziols then entrusted the operation of this site which includes, in addition to the source and the fountain, a plot of vines and a small pine wood, to ASFEP.

From 2006, the association proceeded with the restoration of this place: restoration of the fountain, construction of an aqueduct, construction of low stone walls. This work gave rise to several sites for young volunteers from 2006 to 2008; after a break during which other work was undertaken on other sites, the restoration of this place resumed in 2010 and has continued since.