Entrevaux

Entrevaux sits in a loop of the Var where the valley narrows, and until 1860 this was the frontier between France and the states of Savoy, which is why Vauban fortified it from 1693. The village is entered over a bridge with a drawbridge gate, and from it a fortified ramp of twenty zigzag sections climbs about a hundred and fifty-six metres to the citadel on the crag. Inside the walls the streets are narrow and largely unchanged, with a cathedral built into the ramparts. The Train des Pignes stops here, so the village can be reached without a car.

History

After Saracen raids and the destruction of the old bishop's town of Glandèves, medieval Entrevaux was founded in the 11th century on the more defensible rock in a bend of the river; its oldest recorded name, Interrivos, dates from 1040, and Provence, with Entrevaux, passed to France between 1481 and 1487. In 1536 the town, betrayed by its lord, fell to the troops of the Emperor Charles V, but its people rose up and offered it to Francis I, who made it a royal town exempt from taxes; in the 16th century the bishops of Glandèves moved their cathedral into Entrevaux, where it served until 1790. A bridge with towers and a portcullis, the present Porte Royale, was built over the Var in 1658, and in 1690 Vauban drew up plans to strengthen the town on the border with Savoy, reinforcing the citadel and building the protected walkway up the mountain; the town held out against a Savoyard siege in June 1707 (Wikipedia, Entrevaux).

What you'll find

• The drawbridge gate - the working entrance across the Var.
• The zigzag ramp - twenty fortified sections climbing to the citadel.
• The citadel - Vauban's fort on the crag above the village.
• The rampart cathedral - a church built into the defensive wall.

When to go

April to October; the citadel climb is exposed and hot in midsummer. The Train des Pignes runs year-round and makes a good approach. A medieval festival fills the village in August.

Before you go

The climb to the citadel is steep, stony and takes around twenty-five minutes each way with no shade. The citadel itself is largely empty walls. The village has few services.

Nearby

The Gorges de Daluis lie north; Nice is southeast down the valley.

Key facts