Saint-Paul-de-Vence Village

Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France

One of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera, Haut-de-Cagnes is well known for its modern and contemporary art museums and galleries such as Fondation Maeght which is located nearby.

The village is located just 15 minutes’ drive from the coastline on top of a large mound known as the Plateau du Puy, on top of which a Roman oppidum was built, followed by a medieval castle, which was then known as the castrum, dominated in the Middle Ages by the Counts of Provence. The village got its big break in 1388 due to its proximity to the Var river when the County of Nice was seceded to the Kingdom of Savoy and Saint Paul was upgraded to bordertown garrison level – in the 16th century, repeated attacks from Charles V of Spain and his Habsburg dynasty that dominated most of Europe at the time lead French King Francis I to build the mighty city walls and fortifications that still stand today.

In the following centuries, the village developed its Baroque religious architecture and in the 19th century, the artists started to arrive, attracted by the light and the beautiful architecture of the village. One of the local hotel entrepreneurs, Paul Roux, owner of the future Colombe d’Or Hotel (the best place in town, at the entrance to the village), decided to lodge some artists for free in exchange for some of their paintings, which still adorn the hotel.

References:

Comments

Your name



User Reviews

Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Linderhof Palace

Linderhof is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed.

Ludwig II, who was crowned king in 1864, began his building activities in 1867-1868 by redesigning his rooms in the Munich Residenz and laying the foundation stone of Neuschwanstein Castle. In 1868 he was already making his first plans for Linderhof. However, neither the palace modelled on Versailles that was to be sited on the floor of the valley nor the large Byzantine palace envisaged by Ludwig II were ever built.

Instead, the new building developed around the forester's house belonging to his father Maximilian II, which was located in the open space in front of the present palace and was used by the king when crown prince on hunting expeditions with his father.