La Turbie
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Commune of La Turbie |
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| Location | |
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| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur |
| Department | Alpes-Maritimes |
| Arrondissement | Nice |
| Canton | Villefranche-sur-Mer |
| Intercommunality | Riviera française |
| Mayor | Nicolas Bassani (2001-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 146 m–658 m |
| Land area¹ | 7.42 km² |
| Population² (1999) |
3,021 |
| - Density | 407/km² (1999) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 06150/ 06320 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
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La Turbie (in Italian "Turbia" from tropea, Latin for trophy) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes département in southeastern France.
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[edit] History
La Turbie was famous in Roman times for the huge Monument that Augustus made there to celebrate his victory over the Ligurian tribes of the area.
During the middle ages, the village (called then Turbia) was mainly under the dominion of the Republic of Genoa. Dante wrote in his Divina Commedia that Turbia was the western limit of the Italian Liguria.
It was alternatively part of Savoy or the Principality of Monaco, from where the population of Turbia has assimilated the dialect Monegasque, even if the local Ligurian dialect has maintained some characteristics of the nearby Niçois of Nice. Actually the local dialect is nearly extinct, mainly after the 1860 inclusion of the Savoian County of Nice in France.
The commune formerly includes the communes of Beausoleil and Cap d'Ail, which was disestablished at the beginning of the 20th century. Only the old main town, around the remaining structure of the roman Trophy of Augustus, forms the current commune.
[edit] Geography
The boundaries of La Turbie were formerly more extensive and included the territory now contained in the town of Beausoleil, formerly known as Haut-Monte-Carlo, owing to its proximity to Monaco. The commune of La Turbie retains a smaller, common boundary with part of the Principality.
La Turbie can be reached either from Cap d'Ail on the coast or the Grand Corniche. Within the town is the Trophy of Augustus, also known as the Trophée des Alpes.
[edit] Sights
It is note-worthy the amusing origin of the calcareous headland called the Tête de Chien: the original name of the place was Testa de can. In the local Niçois dialect, Testa can means Head of Dog (chien is called can in Niçois and dog in English). Today, it is amusing to see many tourists seeking in the cut out forms of the relief, a vague profile of a dog (which they never find).
The village is built, partly, with old stones recovered from the ruins of the Trophy of the Alpes (Trophy of Augustus), a Roman monument built by the emperor Augustus to celebrate his victory over the Ligurian tribes which lived in the mountains of the area and attacked the merchants plying the Roman trade routes.
[edit] Famous residents
- Prince Albert II of Monaco has a property on the heights of Rocagel.
- Rudolf Nureyev had a residence there until 1993.
[edit] External links
- [1]
- Trophy of Augustus (site with photos)
- Trophy of Augustus: the inscription
- Original appearance of the Trophy of Augustus
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