The village has always been turned towards agriculture thanks to its fertile and rich lands. In the 19th century, it will be marked by the rural exodus but despite the loss of inhabitants, Ansignan will remain an important village.
In 1903-1905, a hydro-electric plant was built to produce and supply electricity to the villages of Ansignan, Lesquerde, Saint-Arnac and Saint Paul de Fenouillet. The building existed until 1965.
Vines were mainly cultivated but the peach trees of Ansignan gave the village a good reputation. In 1924, the cooperative cellar of ANSIGNAN was created. This grouping of winegrowers allowed, at that time, to pool the means of production, to increase the bargaining power on the markets and thus to maintain the viticulture. But little by little the cultivated surfaces decline and the cellar merges with that of Caramany in 1993.
Today, Ansignan has a population of 165. The village is rural and the cultures continue thanks to the installation of young producers of olive oil, Clots Das Vigne, and the Domaine D'ANSIGNAN which since 2016 repurchase lands, in vineyards or not and makes live again this historical soil.
ANSIGNAN
Ansignan is a village located in the center of the Fenouillèdes, a natural and cultural region of the Pyrenees-Orientales and the Aude, which has the particularity of being an Occitan-speaking area.
A first village was created around an agricultural domain given to a Roman named ANSIUS, hence the name ANSIGNAN. Several families settled and the aqueduct bridge was built, which shows the importance and the development of this area. Some people also put forward the hypothesis of a monastery in the vicinity of the place called "Le mas", but there is no proof of this existence.
The first village was not located in the present place, it was further down, closer to the rivers. Remains of the first church are still visible. Following floods, the inhabitants had to move the village to higher ground and build the present church which dates from the 16th century.
ANSIGNAN lives at the rhythm of wars, changes of lords without undergoing important modifications.
