Villefranche-sur-Mer

Villefranche -sur -Mer (on Nissart Vilafranca de Mar, in Italian Villafranca ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence- Alpes- Côte d' Azur, with 5416 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011).

Geography

Villefranche -sur- Mer is located on the Mediterranean, six kilometers east of Nice, and ten kilometers west of Monaco.

History

The coast was settled by the Ligurians. He served in ancient times the Greeks and the Romans as a port and was opened verkehrlich by a branch of the Via Aurelia. The former name of the port was Olivula Portus.

In the Middle Ages the village belonged to the Lotharii Regnum. Due to repeated raids, the inhabitants withdrew into the mountainous hinterland, where they founded a new settlement called Montolvio. 1295 encouraged Charles II, who ruled Provence from the House of Anjou, whose residents to return to the coast because he considered the strategic value of a port on the border of its territory is important, and granted them for tax exemption. The new settlement was therefore called Villafranca. As of 1388 the area of the County of Savoy (from 1416 Duchy ) belonged. Between 1720 and 1820 it was repeatedly occupied by France before 1860, together with the county of Nice finally became part of the French state.

The bay of Villefranche -sur -Mer was home after the Second World War until 1962, the U.S. 6th fleet. Today Villefranche is the largest cruise port in France. Until 1988 it was known as Villefranche -sur -Mer Villefranche only.

Attractions

  • Citadel Museum: sculptures by Antoniucci Volti, collection and pictures of the artist couple Christine Boumeester and Henri Goetz
  • Chapel of St. Pierre: the interior was decorated by Jean Cocteau in 1957; located in the port
  • Rue Obscure, a perfectly built over with houses street; access to the Rue Obscure is from the harbor promenade from the left of the restaurant L' Oursin bleu
  • Villa Leopolda, 2,700 m² celebrity -style mansion Belle Epoque
  • Port: Villefranche is now the largest cruise port in the country
  • Observatoire océanologique, formerly known as " Zoological station " or " station Marine", today these are portions of the Observatoire

Gallery

Panorama Villefranche -sur -Mer

Rue Obscure

At the harbor

Bay in front of Cap Ferrat Villefranche photographed from.

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