Француз Ривьерасының тарихы және Villefranche-sur-Mer қаласы

Commune in Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur, France

Villefranche sur Mer (/US/,/v//iː//l//(//ə//)/'/f//r//ɑ̃//ʃ// //s//ʊər// /'/m//ɛər/, vilfʁɑ̃ʃ syʁ mɛʁ; ; ˌvillaˈfraŋka maˈrittima) is a resort town in the Alpes Maritimes department in the Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located south west of the Principality of Monaco, which is just west of the French Italian border.

Villefranche sur Mer is immediately to the east of the city of Nice, along Mont Boron, Mont Alban and Mont Vinaigrier, and 6.2 mile (10 km) southwest of Monaco. The bay (rade) of Villefranche is one of the deepest natural harbours of any port in the Mediterranean Sea and provides safe anchorage for large ships from easterly winds. Reaching depths of 320 feet (98 m) between the Cape of Nice and Cap Ferrat, it extends to the south to form a 1,700 feet (518 m) abyss known as the undersea Canyon of Villefranche about off the coastline. The Bay is the place where the United States Sixth Fleet moors when cruising the Mediterranean coast. The city limits extend to the hills surrounding the bay climbing from sea level to an altitude of 1,893 feet (577 m), the highest point of Mont Leuze, reflecting on land the features found offshore. The Basse Corniche runs through Vlllefranche with the Moyenne Corniche above and the Haute Corniche above that entering the farthest reach to the west of the Alpes Maritimes.

The site of what is now Villefranche and surrounding Beaulieu sur Mer and Saint Jean Cap Ferrat has been settled since prehistoric times. Celto ligurian tribes roamed the area and established farming communities on the surrounding hills. The Greeks and later the Romans used the natural harbour as a stop over en route to the Greek settlements around the Western Mediterranean. After the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, the Romans built an extension of the Via Aurelia (Aurelian Way), which passed through the settlement of Montolivo. By the fall of the Carolingian Empire, the area was part of Lotharingia and later part of the County of Provence. In 1295, Charles II, Duke of Anjou, then Count of Provence, enticed the inhabitants of Montolivo and surroundings to settle closer to the coastline in order to secure the area from pirates. By charter, he established Villefranche as a "free port", thus the name, granting tax privileges and port fee rights that lasted well into the 18th century. By 1388, East Provence became part of the Duchy of Savoy as a result of the disputed succession to the heirless Queen Joan I of Naples. For the next 400 years, the area known as the County of Nice was hotly disputed between the Holy Roman Empire to which Savoy was an ally and the French. In 1543, the Franco Turkish armies sacked and occupied the city after the siege of Nice, prompting Duke Emmanuel Philibert to secure the site by building an impressive citadel and a fort on nearby Mont Alban. In the late 17th century, the area fell to the French but was returned to Savoy after the Peace of Utrecht. During the 18th century, the city lost some of its maritime importance to the new harbour being built in Nice but remained a military and naval base. In 1744, a Franco Spanish army under the Prince of Conti overran the Piedmontese regiments of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia at the Fort of Mont Alban in the heights above the town. In 1793, the French returned to re occupy Villefranche and the county of Nice remained part of the Napoleonic Empire until 1814. It was returned to the Kingdom of Sardinia by the Congress of Vienna. In 1860, as a consequence of the Risorgimento, it was given to France by treaty following a plebiscite. By the late 19th century, it had become an important Imperial Russian Navy base and the Russians established an oceanographic laboratory in the old lazaret. Since the 1980s Villefranche has been used by cruise ships. It is the most visited cruise ship port of call in France.

The main activity remains tourism, with hotels and restaurants employing a sizeable portion of the population. Traditional activities, like fishing, have now given way to sea related activities, such as sailing and deep sea diving. Some dockyard activity remains at the harbour of “la Darse” but most of it has now been moved to Antibes. Residential construction and maintenance, which provided a lot of employment in the mid 20th century, has now subsided considerably.

Église Saint Michel (Saint Michael's Church) in the heart of old town, was built in the 1750s in the baroque Italian style where originally stood a more modest early fourteenth century church. It houses various works of art, notably a large Saint Michael painting above the marble main altar, a recumbent sculpture Christ (18th century) known as the "Christ of the Galleys" and a polychrome wooden statue of San Rocco. The organ built by the Grinda Brothers in 1790 is one of the oldest of the County of Nice still in operation. The building was included in the French Historic Sites Registry in 1990. The Chapelle Saint Pierre (Saint Peter's Chapel) dates from the sixteenth century. Used as a storeroom for local fishermen's nets and equipment for most of the 19th and early part of the 20th century, it was restored in 1957 with Jean Cocteau adding his now famous murals depicting the life of the saint and of local fishermen. The building was included in the French Historic Sites Registry in 1995.