La Turbie
La Turbie | ||
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The church of La Turbie and the Tropaeum Alpium | ||
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La Turbie | ||
Location within Provence-A.-C.d'A. region La Turbie | ||
Coordinates: 43°44′47″N 7°24′06″E / 43.7464°N 7.4017°ECoordinates: 43°44′47″N 7°24′06″E / 43.7464°N 7.4017°E | ||
Country | France | |
Region | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | |
Department | Alpes-Maritimes | |
Arrondissement | Nice | |
Canton | Beausoleil | |
Intercommunality | Riviera française | |
Government | ||
• Mayor (2001–2008) | Nicolas Bassani | |
Area1 | 7.42 km2 (2.86 sq mi) | |
Population (2008)2 | 3,165 | |
• Density | 430/km2 (1,100/sq mi) | |
INSEE/Postal code | 06150 / 06320 | |
Elevation | 146–658 m (479–2,159 ft) | |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
La Turbie (in Italian "Turbia" from tropea, Latin for trophy) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.
History
La Turbie was famous in Roman times for the large monument, the Trophy of Augustus, that Augustus made 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.
On September 13, 1982, Princess Grace de Monaco was killed here in a fatal car accident.
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.
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.
Sights
A limestone outcrop above La Turbie is called the Tête de Chien ("head of dog"), a folk etymology deriving from its former name, Testa de camp ("head of (military) camp").[1]
La Turbie 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.
Population
Historical population | ||
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Year | Pop. | ±% |
1962 | 1,522 | — |
1968 | 1,761 | +15.7% |
1975 | 1,826 | +3.7% |
1982 | 1,969 | +7.8% |
1990 | 2,609 | +32.5% |
1999 | 3,021 | +15.8% |
2008 | 3,165 | +4.8% |
Twin towns — Sister cities
La Turbie is twinned with:
- Sarre, Aosta Valley, Italy
Personalities
- Prince Albert II of Monaco has a property on the heights of Rocagel.
- Rudolf Nureyev had a residence there until 1993.
In pop culture
La Turbie was one of the locations where the movie Ronin was filmed.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ A Book of the Riviera, Sabine Baring-Gould, 1905
- ↑ "The Internet Movie Database. Ronin". Retrieved 2010-12-14.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to La Turbie. |
- Official website
- Trophy of Augustus (site with photos)
- Trophy of Augustus: the inscription
- Original appearance of the Trophy of Augustus
- Discover La Turbie
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