Perpignan is a commune and the préfecture (administrative capital city) of the Pyrénées-Orientales département in southern France. Perpignan was the capital of the former province and county of Roussillon. The cathedral of St. John the Baptist was begun in 1324 and finished in 1509.The 13th century castle of the kings of Majorca sits on the high citadel, surrounded by ramparts, reinforced for Louis XI and Charles V, which were updated in the 17th century by Louis XIV's military engineer Vauban.The walls surrounding the town, which had been designed by Vauban, were razed in 1904 to accommodate urban development. Perpignan is known for its prison made famous by the movie Catch Me if You Can telling the true story of Frank Abagnale. In 1969, after Abagnale was captured, he was sentenced to spend one year at Perpignan's House of Arrest, a sentence that was eventually reduced to six months. Abagnale, in his book featuring the same title, described his cell as an empty block of stone or concrete that was cold and pitch dark, and completely empty, with no furnishing except for a bucket for urination and defecation. He was forced to spend his sentence unclothed in this location, offered only three small loaves of bread, a glass of water, a cup of coffee, and a bowl of soup every day.