Roquebrune Cap-Martin : virtual visit of the old village

Roquebrune Cap-Martin is a seaside resort located between Monaco and Menton. The municipality is constituted of very different neighborhoods.

The old village is located in a mountainous circus that dominates the mount Agel. It is crowned by the old castle and has kept intact its medieval character: narrow streets covered with Romanic arches.

This castle is the only specimen, in existence in France, of the castles called Carolingian, embryos of those built two centuries later and that marked the heyday of feudalism. It was founded in the 10th century, by Conrad I Count of Ventimiglia, to prevent the Saracens to settle in the region. For five centuries it belonged to the Grimaldi who modified the constructions and introduced the artillery in the defense.

The old village is also home to: St. Margaret’s church which was built in the twelfth century and restored several times, notably in the nineteenth century and a millennium olive considered the oldest in Europe.

Cap Martin is a long peninsula composed of beautiful villas surrounded by parklands. It is the symbol of the great architects and the tourism of holiday resort of the last century (villa of Tersling).

Cabbe, Bon Voyage and Serret are residential areas of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. We find in these districts, various elements the architectural and cultural heritage of the municipality (Cabanon Le Corbusier, E-1027, Chapel Bon Voyage).

The sumptuous mansions present at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin show that writers, artists, architects came to look for the inspiration and for the rest on this place of exception: Sir Winston Churchill, Coco Chanel, Sacha Guitry, Jacques Brel, Silvana Mangano...

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