Discover 6 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (France). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Villa Torre Clementina, Villa Cypris, and Ouvrage Cap Martin. Also, be sure to include Cabanon de vacances in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur).
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Villa Torre Clementina
Mansion in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. The Villa Torre Clementina is a historic mansion in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. It was built in 1904 for author Ernesta Stern. It was designed by architect Lucien Hesse, and the interiors were designed by painter Raffaële Maïnella. It was used as a shooting location for the 1964 film Joy House. It has been listed as an official historical monument by the French Ministry of Culture since 1991.[1]
Address: Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, avenue Impératrice-Eugénie
Villa Cypris
Villa Cypris is a seaside villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on the French Riviera.
The villa was built c. 1904 in Neo-Byzantine style by architect Edouard Arnaud for Cyprienne Dubernet, the widow of Grands Magasins du Louvre's proprietor Olympe Hériot. It is adjacent to Villa Cyrnos.
The gardens, laid out in 1909, slope steeply down to the sea. Designs for the gardens, as well as the villa interiors, were provided by Italian painter Raffaele Mainella, who did likewise for Villa Torre Clementina, also in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. He built a cloister gallery overlooking the sea, linked to the villa by a bridge and a long flight of turfed steps lined with columns. This central stairway is flanked by two more, parallel stairways. Other garden features include a Venetian-style loggia, a pergola with columns and arches styled after the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, and a sunken Dutch garden containing a long canal.
The gallery and other features provided viewpoints for Dubernet to watch her daughter Virginie Hériot, a competitive sailor, yachting in the bay below.
The villa, together with its gardens, was registered as a monument historique in 1990. It is not open to the public.[2]
Ouvrage Cap Martin
Also known as: Ouvrage du Cap-Martin
Non-profit organization in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. Ouvrage Cap Martin is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also called the Little Maginot Line. The ouvrage, located on high ground in Roquebrune, consists of two artillery blocks and one combination block facing Italy. The ouvrage was at the southernmost end of the Alpine Line and overlooked the Mediterranean Sea coastline at an altitude of 21 meters between Nice and Menton, facing towards Italy. The ouvrage and its advance casemate at Pont Saint Louis controlled the coastal roads along the Mediterranean.[3]
Cabanon de vacances
Also known as: Site corbuséen du Cap Martin
The Cabanon de vacances is a vacation home designed and built by noted architect Le Corbusier in 1951. It is the only place the architect Le Corbusier built for himself which he used for vacation. In July 2016, the home and sixteen other works by Le Corbusier were inscribed as the world's smallest UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It was built exclusively for himself, as a seaside escape away from Parisian city life, Le Corbusier spent every August in the cabin for 18 years. The cabin is constructed out of wood logs. Le Corbusier loved his summer home for its location.[4]
Address: Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
La Pausa
Villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. La Pausa is a large detached villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, in the Alpes-Maritimes department of France. It was designed and built by the French fashion designer Coco Chanel in the early 1930s, and owned by Chanel until 1953. La Pausa was sold by Chanel to the Hungarian publisher Emery Reves. The former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill spent roughly a third of each year at La Pausa from 1956 to 1958 with Reves and his wife, Wendy, and wrote and edited part of his History of the English Speaking Peoples there. La Pausa was occupied by Wendy Reves until 2007. The principal rooms of La Pausa and its significant art collection were recreated at the Dallas Museum of Art during her lifetime and under her direction. The Reves wing was opened in 1985.
Situated above the village of Roquebrune, the house enjoys views toward Menton and the French border with Italy on one side, and Monaco on the other. Its name refers to the legend that Mary Magdalene "paused" near here on her journey from Jerusalem following the crucifixion of Jesus.[5]
Château des Grimaldi
Roquebrune-Cap-Martin Castle-a medieval castle located in the Region of Provence-Alpy-Laza Wybrzeże, in the Department of the Seaside Alps in southern France. The first castle built in the 10th century and then rebuilt in the 13th century.