Sournia (; ; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the Occitanie region of south-western France. Its inhabitants are known as Sourniannais.
Geography Sournia is a town of the Fenouillèdes, the languedocienne part of the Pyrénées-Orientales, in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the arrondissement of Prades. The river Désix runs through the village. Sournia is 22 km from Ille-sur-Têt and from Vinça, 24 km from Prades and from Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet, 30 km from Latour-de-France and 34 km from Axat. The commune is covered by the quality wine standard AOC 'Côtes-du-Roussillon'. Sournia is crossed by the long-distance footpath, GR 36.
Administration
The current mayor of Sournia is Paul Blanc, a senator, of the centre-right and right wing party UMP founded by Jacques Chirac.
Population
For some reason at the end of the 19th century, the population of Sournia seemed to have a reputation for having one of the longest longevity in France, even though this fact was not clearly verified. Fabricio Cardenas, Vieux papiers des Pyrénées-Orientales, Record de longévité à Sournia en 1897 , 3 January 2015
Places of interest
Ruins of the former church of Saint-Michel from the tenth century.Rush, Simon John Nowell (2022), The first Romanesque architecture of Conflent, Pyrénées-Orientales, France (66). Tradition, system and style. [Thesis] Volume 1 (text), especially pages 126-7; and Volume 2 (illustrations), especially Figures 70-87. The ancient church of Sainte-Félicité from the tenth and eleventh centuries. Church of Arsa from the twelfth century.
See also Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department
References