Valbonne
Encyclopedia
Valbonne Sophia Antipolis is a commune
near Nice
in the Alpes-Maritimes
department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
region
in south-eastern France
. Valbonne means 'the good valley' in Provençal and translates to Vaubona in Occitan.
The people who live there are known as 'Valbonais' or 'Sophipolitains'.
The village is in the commune of Valbonne Sophia Antipolis, which consists of the village of Valbonne, and the technology park of Sophia Antipolis
.
. The commune consists of two sites:
, the first days of agriculture. Many prehistoric artifacts such as Neolithic
stone axes, funeral urns from the Bronze Age
, and fragments of amphora, oil and grain jars (dolia) have been excavated. The remains of an aqueduct constructed during Roman settlement in the 3rd century A.D. are also present in the area of Clausonne.
In the High Middle Ages
several neighbouring hamlets (Opio, Le Brusc, Sartoux, les Clausonnes and Villebruc) already existed. But the small, isolated valley of Valbonne was deserted. In 1199 the land was offered by the bishop of Antibes to the abbey of Prads (Prads-Haute-Bleone, Alpes-de-Haut-Provence) who founded the abbey of St. Mary. At the time, this area was called Vallis Bona, meaning "the good valley." Later, it became known as Valbonne.
Prads and Valbonne were two of the 15 abbeys and priories of the monastic order of Chalais, an order of 'Dauphinois-Provençal' monks. The order was created a century earlier and was similar to the Cistercians. The poverty of these mountain-dwellers caused their disintegration and, in 1297 the abbot of Valbonne came under the authority of the abbey of St. Andrew of Villeneuve-les-Avignon. The bishop of Grasse refused to ratify the arrangement, and in 1303 offered St. Mary to the abbey of Lérins
. In 1335 the Pope settled the question - he allocated St. Mary to Lérins.
At the end of the Middle Ages
war, drought and the Black Death
of 1351 caused the flight of the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, and left the abbey and its environs deserted.
In 1486, under Louis XI
, Provence
was legally incorporated into the French royal domain, and this began the renaissance of the region. The village now known as Valbonne was founded in 1519, by Augustin de Grimaldi, bishop of Grasse and abbot of Lérins
. Augustin de Grimaldi commissioned the worker-monk Don Taxil to construct the village adjacent to the abbey to increase the value of the land. The aim was to use exclusively local labour to build a community that would lead to the repopulation of the region. This was accomplished by the importation of Italian
artisans, to work the clay
found in the nearby villages of Vallauris
and Biot
.
The village is laid out along a grid pattern, under the influence of Roman military camps
, with two principal avenues, arranged perpendicular to one another, and the forum
at the intersection. Arcades were added to the central square in the 17th century and it became known as la Place des Arcades. Originally, the grid consisted of ten streets crossing ten streets but the village has progressively expanded around the center. The architectural plan of the village of Valbonne differs from that of many other villages located in the South of France which typically spiral around a hill. The construction took over a century, and the village remained relatively unchanged until the middle of the 20th century.
In the last century, a surrounding municipality of Valbonne has been constructed around the ancient village. Although the population of the town of Valbonne has greatly increased in recent years, the village itself has remained intact, retaining much of its 16th century charm.
Surrounding Valbonne, the proximity of the coast and especially the construction in the 1970s of the technology park Sophia Antipolis has transformed the region.
, constructed in the 1970s along the same lines as La Défense
near Paris
. The name was adopted from the ancient Greek colony of Antipolis which resided in the nearby village of Antibes. This plateau was one of the few remaining vast sections of land that had remained untouched in the French Riviera
. Initially, investors interested in Sophia Antipolis were mainly oil and mining companies. The park, however, took a different turn when the University of Nice decided to move parts of its campus to the plateau in the 1980s. As a result, Sophia Antipolis became an important site of research and development.
Today, Sophia Antipolis has evolved into a highly recognized international community, with more than 1,000 companies hiring more than 25,000. It now has an area of 2,500 ha spreading over the municipality of Valbonne and its surrounding municipalities, Antibes
, Biot
, Mougins
, and Vallauris
. The community continues to grow day by day, with the recent establishments of the municipalities of la Colle-sur-Loup, Roquefort-les-Pins
and Villeneuve-Loubet
.
In the main street is the former town hall, complete with tower and fountain. It was constructed in the 19th century.
abbey-church was built in the 13th century by Benedictine
monks of the Order of Chalais. It became the parish church when the village was built. It is a perfect example of Chalaisien architecture, which is very similar to primitive Cistercian architecture. The clock tower was added in the 19th century. The religious architecture is supplemented by several chapels and oratories, both in the village and surrounding countryside.
The monastic buildings have been well preserved. Their restoration, begun in 1970, is ongoing. They house the Heritage Museum 'Le Vieux Valbonne' which houses numerous everyday objects representing the rural life of the village. Exhibitions and presentations bring to life the history of the village and monastic order of Chalais.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
near Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
in the Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes is a department in the extreme southeast corner of France.- History : was created by Octavian as a Roman military district in 14 BC, and became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century with its capital first at Cemenelum and subsequently at Embrun...
department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.It is made up of:* the former French province of Provence* the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in south-eastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Valbonne means 'the good valley' in Provençal and translates to Vaubona in Occitan.
The people who live there are known as 'Valbonais' or 'Sophipolitains'.
The village is in the commune of Valbonne Sophia Antipolis, which consists of the village of Valbonne, and the technology park of Sophia Antipolis
Sophia Antipolis
Sophia Antipolis is a technology park northwest of Antibes and southwest of Nice, France. Much of the park falls within the commune of Valbonne. Created in 1970-84, it houses primarily companies in the fields of computing, electronics, pharmacology and biotechnology. Several institutions of higher...
.
Geography
Valbonne is situated in a basin, halfway along the Brague riverBrague
The Brague is a river in the département of Alpes-Maritimes and the région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in France. The Brague takes its source near Châteauneuf and ends in the Mediterranean Sea near Antibes....
. The commune consists of two sites:
- the old village situated in the extreme north-west
- Sophia Antipolis in the east, around the towns of Haut-Satoux and Garbejaire
History
There are traces of prehistoric human settlement in the area that date back to the Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
, the first days of agriculture. Many prehistoric artifacts such as Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
stone axes, funeral urns from the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
, and fragments of amphora, oil and grain jars (dolia) have been excavated. The remains of an aqueduct constructed during Roman settlement in the 3rd century A.D. are also present in the area of Clausonne.
In the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
several neighbouring hamlets (Opio, Le Brusc, Sartoux, les Clausonnes and Villebruc) already existed. But the small, isolated valley of Valbonne was deserted. In 1199 the land was offered by the bishop of Antibes to the abbey of Prads (Prads-Haute-Bleone, Alpes-de-Haut-Provence) who founded the abbey of St. Mary. At the time, this area was called Vallis Bona, meaning "the good valley." Later, it became known as Valbonne.
Prads and Valbonne were two of the 15 abbeys and priories of the monastic order of Chalais, an order of 'Dauphinois-Provençal' monks. The order was created a century earlier and was similar to the Cistercians. The poverty of these mountain-dwellers caused their disintegration and, in 1297 the abbot of Valbonne came under the authority of the abbey of St. Andrew of Villeneuve-les-Avignon. The bishop of Grasse refused to ratify the arrangement, and in 1303 offered St. Mary to the abbey of Lérins
Lérins Abbey
Lérins Abbey is a Cistercian monastery on the island of Saint-Honorat, one of the Lérins Islands, on the French Riviera, with an active monastic community....
. In 1335 the Pope settled the question - he allocated St. Mary to Lérins.
At the end of the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
war, drought and the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
of 1351 caused the flight of the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, and left the abbey and its environs deserted.
In 1486, under Louis XI
Louis XI of France
Louis XI , called the Prudent , was the King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was the son of Charles VII of France and Mary of Anjou, a member of the House of Valois....
, Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
was legally incorporated into the French royal domain, and this began the renaissance of the region. The village now known as Valbonne was founded in 1519, by Augustin de Grimaldi, bishop of Grasse and abbot of Lérins
Lérins Abbey
Lérins Abbey is a Cistercian monastery on the island of Saint-Honorat, one of the Lérins Islands, on the French Riviera, with an active monastic community....
. Augustin de Grimaldi commissioned the worker-monk Don Taxil to construct the village adjacent to the abbey to increase the value of the land. The aim was to use exclusively local labour to build a community that would lead to the repopulation of the region. This was accomplished by the importation of Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
artisans, to work the clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
found in the nearby villages of Vallauris
Vallauris
Vallauris is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is located in the metropolitan area of Sophia-Antipolis, and is today effectively an extension of the town of Antibes, bordering it on its west side.-Population:-Culture:In...
and Biot
Biot, Alpes-Maritimes
Biot is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is located near Antibes, between Cannes and Villeneuve-Loubet on the top of a hill overlooking the Mediterranean....
.
The village is laid out along a grid pattern, under the influence of Roman military camps
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
, with two principal avenues, arranged perpendicular to one another, and the forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
at the intersection. Arcades were added to the central square in the 17th century and it became known as la Place des Arcades. Originally, the grid consisted of ten streets crossing ten streets but the village has progressively expanded around the center. The architectural plan of the village of Valbonne differs from that of many other villages located in the South of France which typically spiral around a hill. The construction took over a century, and the village remained relatively unchanged until the middle of the 20th century.
In the last century, a surrounding municipality of Valbonne has been constructed around the ancient village. Although the population of the town of Valbonne has greatly increased in recent years, the village itself has remained intact, retaining much of its 16th century charm.
Surrounding Valbonne, the proximity of the coast and especially the construction in the 1970s of the technology park Sophia Antipolis has transformed the region.
Economy
While the village has been preserved in its original condition, nearby is the high tech centre of Sophia AntipolisSophia Antipolis
Sophia Antipolis is a technology park northwest of Antibes and southwest of Nice, France. Much of the park falls within the commune of Valbonne. Created in 1970-84, it houses primarily companies in the fields of computing, electronics, pharmacology and biotechnology. Several institutions of higher...
, constructed in the 1970s along the same lines as La Défense
La Défense
La Défense is a major business district of the Paris aire urbaine. With a population of 20,000, it is centered in an orbital motorway straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux...
near Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The name was adopted from the ancient Greek colony of Antipolis which resided in the nearby village of Antibes. This plateau was one of the few remaining vast sections of land that had remained untouched in the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
. Initially, investors interested in Sophia Antipolis were mainly oil and mining companies. The park, however, took a different turn when the University of Nice decided to move parts of its campus to the plateau in the 1980s. As a result, Sophia Antipolis became an important site of research and development.
Today, Sophia Antipolis has evolved into a highly recognized international community, with more than 1,000 companies hiring more than 25,000. It now has an area of 2,500 ha spreading over the municipality of Valbonne and its surrounding municipalities, Antibes
Antibes
Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d'Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes...
, Biot
Biot
Biot or BIOT may refer to:* Biot, Alpes-Maritimes, a commune in France* Biot , a lunar crater* British Indian Ocean Territory* Camille Biot , French physician...
, Mougins
Mougins
Mougins is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It is located on the heights of Cannes, in the district of Grasse. Mougins is a 15-minute drive from Cannes. The village is surrounded by forests, such as the Valmasque forest...
, and Vallauris
Vallauris
Vallauris is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is located in the metropolitan area of Sophia-Antipolis, and is today effectively an extension of the town of Antibes, bordering it on its west side.-Population:-Culture:In...
. The community continues to grow day by day, with the recent establishments of the municipalities of la Colle-sur-Loup, Roquefort-les-Pins
Roquefort-les-Pins
Roquefort-Les-Pins is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-Population:-External links:* *...
and Villeneuve-Loubet
Villeneuve-Loubet
Villeneuve-Loubet It lies between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Antibes, at the mouth of the Loup River.It was created by the joining two old villages: the old village of Villeneuve inland and the village of Loubet on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Population
The old village
The architecture of the houses of Valbonne is as rigorous as the street layout (see History above). Originally, they were all identical. The ground floor was for deliveries (these are now found half-underground due to a rise in the level of the street). On the first floor was the living room, above, the bedrooms. Finally, the attic, where stores were hoisted up with the aid of a pulley (some examples of these can still be found).In the main street is the former town hall, complete with tower and fountain. It was constructed in the 19th century.
The abbey-church
The RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
abbey-church was built in the 13th century by Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monks of the Order of Chalais. It became the parish church when the village was built. It is a perfect example of Chalaisien architecture, which is very similar to primitive Cistercian architecture. The clock tower was added in the 19th century. The religious architecture is supplemented by several chapels and oratories, both in the village and surrounding countryside.
The monastic buildings have been well preserved. Their restoration, begun in 1970, is ongoing. They house the Heritage Museum 'Le Vieux Valbonne' which houses numerous everyday objects representing the rural life of the village. Exhibitions and presentations bring to life the history of the village and monastic order of Chalais.
Personalities
- Israeli film director Eytan FoxEytan Fox-Biography:Fox was born in New York City and moved with his family to Israel when he was two. His father, Seymour Fox, was a Conservative rabbi and a leading professor of Jewish education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His mother, Sara Kaminker-Fox, was the head of the Jerusalem city...
lives in Valbonne with his partner. - Joseph Bermond. Influential Mayor of Valbonne.
- Pierre Paul Laffitte. Scientist, politician and founding father of Sophia Antipolis.
External links
- Official website
- Tourist office (French/English)
- Valbonne on the DMOZ directory (French)