Nearby WORTH SEEING Les Vallées Roya Bévéra appartiennent au réseau national du Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication  Fort Saint-Roch  Les chapelles rurales des Villes et Pays d’art et d’histoire This Maginot line work of 4 blocks has Around Sospel a lot of oratories and a big artillery block. The fort protected chapels as Saint-Sébastien, Saint- A proximité the Sospel- Breil railway and the Agaisen Roch, Saint-Antoine… mark out the Arles, Briançon, Fréjus, Grasse, Hyères, Martigues, Menton, fort on the north. It’s been fitted for footpaths. Carpentras et le Comtat Venaissin, la Provence Verte 220 soldiers, who were able, in case of et le Pays Serre-Ponçon Ubaye Durance bénéficient de conflict, to live underground in self- A ceremony on their holy day still takes Sospello, extrait du Theatrum Sabaudiae, 1682] place in some of them. l’appellation Ville et Pays d’art et d’histoire. sufficiency during 3 months. d’histoire A little bit of history... Nowadays it’s a museum. ADTRB-Pôle Culture 3e pavillon des Ecoles Opening times : weekends from April to June and September. Every day  Le quartier Saint-Gervais Bd Jules Ferry 06 380 SOSPEL  04 93 04 22 20 The valley was occupied by shepherds who inhabited the Albaréa cave 3000 years before our era. except Monday from 2 to 6 pm in July and August The chapel of the priory, still visible, [email protected] | www.vpah-royabevera.com Entrance Fees : 3 € children, 5 € adults, 4 € groups (+ de 15 pers.) Ligurians, who built « castellaras » on the tops, were romanized might have been built by the Templars in st  04 93 04 15 8 by emperor August in the 1 century BC. After parting from 1180 and used up to early 14th century. Ventimiglia County (1258), Sospel becomes a territory of the Information th  Fort Barbonnet The building has been used for different counts of Provence in the mid 13 century, then in 1388, it This fort’s construction started in 1883 purposes since then. Nowadays it is integrated the House of Savoy. In the Middle Ages the city was and overlooks Sospel at 850 m high. This private. Office de Tourisme very busy and developed, thanks to the mule track of salt. th Seré de Rivières style work controlled the www.sospel-tourisme.com |  04 93 04 15 80 In the 17 century, with the construction of the « Real Strada » gap of Sospel, one of the main invasion under Charles-Emmanuel duke of Savoy, Sospel is embellished  Guided tours : city, cathedral and White Penitents chapel, Let’s corridor in the region.  L’ancien Hôtel du Golf by prestigious baroque style buildings. discover all year long from Tuesday to Saturday at 2.30 pm (mini. 6 With its two Mougin gun-turrets called This stately building used to be a luxury The city becomes finally French in 1860. In 1928, the Nice- pers.). Meeting point : Tourist Office | Fee : 5 € Jeanne d’Arc and Bayard, it secured the hotel built around 1913 by H-G Tersling, Cuneo railway arouses big expectations but the evacuation of area and became one of the three more armoured works in France. one of the most famous architects of the population in 1940 then the bombings in 1944 intensified the Riviera during « La Belle Epoque ». the rural exodus. Sospel Opening times : guided tours on Tuesday and Saturday in July and Activites culturelles August at 3 pm. Originally, it’s the additional part of a Entrance Fees : children(6-13) 3 €, adults 4 €, groups 4 € golf which stretched as far as the Bévéra ... Urban design banks.  Festival « Les BaroQuiales » beginning of July  04 93 04 14 29 ou 06 85 96 72 88  Festival de cinéma end of august around the link formed by the  Fort de l’Agaisen  Bévéra and protected by a This location was chosen in 1929 in order Moulinet  Fête Agricole mid-september belt of hills. to build a mixed work. The building and Moulinet, a small village, 13 km away Small areas and narrow  Gastronomy festival in autumn inner equipment staggered up to 1939. on the way to the Col of Turini, is an streets testify of the medieval Nowadays an association takes care of it, interesting stopover, famous with  Exhibitions past. In the 17th century the you can visit the machinery which is still in its cold rooms and the vertiginous town development increases. working condition. sanctuary of Notre-Dame de la Menour  Multimedia library The rue Saint-Pierre which overlooking the Bévéra gorge. leads to the place Saint- Opening times : 2nd and 4th Sunday in July and August. Michel welcomes the visitor Guided tours at 10.30 am, 2.30 pm, 4.30 pm for individuals and groups. Sospel is an amazing in a baroque setting where Entrance Fees : 6€  04.93.89.10.58 - www.agaisen.org example of the late middle religious and civil building ages urban design which facades turn into a theatre developed in the valleys, set. crédits photos | ADTRB, Michel ROUGIER, Nicole Alunni ADTRB, Michel ROUGIER, Nicole  crédits photos | Villes et Pays d’art et d’histoire 1 Place des Platanes 2 Le Pont-Vieux 3 Place Saint-Nicolas 5 Sainte-Croix 8 Place Saint-Michel 11 Rue Saint-Pierre The Chapel Sainte-Croix of the White Peni- This magnificent display of baroque archi- Formerly known as « carriera dretcha », this tents was built in the 16th century on the tecture is overlooked by the huge facade of street displays several old family coats of site of a romanesque church dedicated to St the church topped by a triangular pediment. arms on lintels. Here is the former « Palais de Nicholas. The winding steps lead down to the square la Viguerie » which housed the administrative th The triangular bell-tower illustrates baroque which is cobbled with white and grey centre of the Counts of Provence in the 13 stones. On the south stand the Grey and Red century. This building in cut-stones owns a theatrically. Inside a large liturgical furniture Penitents chapels. Renaissance window, carved cornices and belonging to the penitents is preserved : The 13th century Lombard bell tower is the the signature of its builder. lanterns, banners, procession crosses, carte- only remaining part of the former Roma- This bridge over the Bévéra river has been attested on the road between lami, a recumbent figure and a baroque style th th nesque church erected before the baroque style reconstruction..This urban On this marketplace (market on every Thursday morning) used to be stan- Nice and the Piedmont as early as the 13 century. Partly rebuilt in the 16 « trompe l’œil » scenery. setting is completed by the Palais Ricci des Ferres on which is affixed a 12 Rue du Pont Vieux th th th ding St Pierre Church, erected in the 13 century, fortified in the 17 , it and 17 centuries, only the lower part of the pile remains from medieval plaque commemorating the fleeting visit of Pope Pius VII on 10th of August th th In the middle of this street stands the Place was completely destroyed at the beginning of 19 century.Some remains age. The watchtower was inhabited and housed a shop until 1960. The two It was also called Place du Saint- Esprit during the 18 century. In the 1809. th Pastoris where you can observe a nice of columns and capitals of the 15 century can still be seen here and there arches were destroyed by the Germans in October 1944 and then rebuilt central building, which formerly belonged to the Brotherhood of the Holy framework of a boss carved door. This narrow on the square, a few capitals are exhibited above St Pierre fountain. faithfully to the original in 1951. Spirit, the governor of Sospel held his meetings. On the ground floor, the 6 Place Garibaldi street links the centre to the bridge. On one loggia was used for the gatherings of the Parliament of men of Sospel. 9 Cathédrale Saint-Michel On this square up to the Middle Ages took of the facades you can notice a mullioned In 1793 this building became the Town Hall. The sculpture of the Paschal place fairs and markets when animal rearing Rebuilt in baroque style in 1641, the facade window and around it some carved lozenges Lamb embodies the divine protection. The fountain dates back to 1788. and agriculture were the main sources and the choir were modified in 1762. which probably were painted in bright th of Sospel economy. L’octroi, contribution The bishop’s seat attests the Great Schism era colours in the 15 century. indirecte perçue par les municipalités sur when Sospel was raised to the status of Dio- les marchandises importées sur le territoire, cese (end of 14th century). 5 4 RueOlivetta de la République était perçu ici au XIXe s. In the Chapel on the left of the choir, the altar 13 Banks of the Bévéra The Carriera Longa (« long street » in local piece of the Immaculate Virgin by François dialect) was the commercial thoroughfare Bréa is a Renaissance masterpiece. Opposite 6 3 on the former « Salt Road » from the Middle th La Bévéra 7 Place de la Cabraïa a Pieta from the 15 century is one of the oldest depiction of penitents. 4 Ages up to the 18th century. It was lined with Above the main entrance, the tribune holds the organ built in 1843 by the This fountain had two functions : the lower 2 shops lightened by wide arcades, which Agati Brothers, famous Italian organ builders. sheltered people from bad weather as well ; part was used to water the cattle, the upper these arcades are now walled up. part for household needs. Salt warehouses 13 10 Place du château 7 On the river side of the street, outlets on the mule track used to be in the vicinities. 12 allowed the evacuation of rainwater and The name cabraia is the local dialect for herd On this area, you can see a loopholed tower Houses display « trompe l’œil » facades with rich decoration painted in the City Hall sewage. A lot of houses along this road are of goats. Until the 19th century, the goats built by the Counts of Provence in the 14th th th 20th century. from the 14 and 15 centuries. At n° 9, a fine carved column is preserved. used to be gathered there before being led century and the walls which surrounded the h This settings painted by Italian craftsmen were less expensive than sculpted Near Place Saint-François, a fountain dates back to the 17t century to pasture. city at this era. Nearby the washing place, 1 (pictured on the Theatrum Sabaudiae engraving in 1682). facades. Most of them were restored in the nineties by G. Ceppa. 8 11 you can remark the only gate preserved. Towards the west you perceive the ruins of 9 the old convent of the Discalced Carmelite (18th century). 10 Walk around Sospel... « Surrounded by mountains, a greenery setting around a river... » Plan de Sospel