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Office deTourisme
Place du Gl de Gaulle 06360 Eze France Tel : 33 (0) 4 93 41 26 00 Fax : 33 (0) 4 93 41 04 80 
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Office deTourisme
Place du Gl de Gaulle 06360 Eze France Tel : 33 (0) 4 93 41 26 00 Fax : 33 (0) 4 93 41 04 80
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Eze,
History of the old Village
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Eze,
History of the old Village
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| Eze and Antiquity |
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The
oldest places of inhabitants on the communeof Eze go back
to the neolithic era towards 2000 BC on the Mount Bastide. |
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The
name of Eze originated either from the port of Avisio located
in the bay of Saint Laurent of Eze (east of the commune) mentioned
by Antonin in his maritime route, or according to an oral
legend that the phoenicians would have erected a temple in
Eze in memory of the goddess Isis.
With the end of the roman empire, the barbarians invasions followed, the inhabitants gathered in the old celto ligurians site. Eze acquired quickly its defensive character. |
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| Assault of the Eagle Nest |
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Soon after
the establishment of the village, the population was victim
of the moors who occupied the village during a certain period
of the Xth century.
The moors stayed for about 80 years not far from Eze, in a place called Fraxinet behind Saint Tropez. They were a source of insecurity and terror for the people of the Southern East. William of Provence and his allies put an end to their exaction around 973. In the Middle Ages, Eze extends from the sea to the right bank of the Paillon, with the priory of St. Laurent of Eze as well as the localities of La Trinité and Laghet which will be detached in 1818 per the decree of the Count of Savoy, Victor Emmanuel Ist. |
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From 1388,
Eze belongs to the House of Savoy. Consequently its destiny
will be related to the policy of this small kingdom often
opposed to France. Conscious of the strategic interest of
the County of Nice, their only maritime opening, the counts
of Savoy improve the fortifications of Eze and protect the
city with a double strengthened door, "Postern".
They make also many modifications to the Castle built during
the XII th century, to adapt it to the progress of artillery.
This building always concerned the higher authority of Provence
or Savoy.
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In 1543
the Turkish fleet and its French allies ordered by Barbarossa
in their fight against Charles Quint, seize of the village.
In 1706, Louis XIV gives a decisive blow to the city during
the war of succession of Spain ordering the destruction of
the walls around the city and the castle in order to remove
a possible point of resistance between Villefranche and Monaco.
Traces of lines strengthened of dry stones also testify to
the presence of french troops in the commune, allied this
time, during the war of succession of Austria in the middle
of the XVIIIth century.
Between the french revolution and the end of the Ist empire the commune was annexed by France before returning under the House of Savoy. It is in 1860, after the unanimous vote of the Ezasques on the15th and 16th of April 1860 that the County of Nice including Eze became definitely french. |
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| Day after day |
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In
spite of the hazards of his story, the life of the inhabitants,
rhythmic by the seasons, moved slowly until the modern time.
During a part of the Middle Ages, the commune had been managed
by some lordly families whose names still echos in the streets:
Riquier, Badat, Blacas... Before the Xth century, Eze, like
Nice and a hundred of villages, belonged to only one family
connected with the count de Provence. With the passing of
years, donations, marriages and legacies stopped the divition
of the communes.
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These
lords, then the counts of Savoy regularly had clashes, sometimes
violent, with the Community about the rights of middle or
high justice. If the role of judges worried Ezasques little,
it was not the same about the bailiff in charge of the low
justice. This person chosen by the count took care of the
application of the laws, noted the infringements, such as
the non payment of "tasques" on the agricultural
productions, the production of lime, or the non respect of
the "bandites or bandita", these pastures reserved
to owners of herds.
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Until
the end of WWI, Ezasques lived especially from their farms
supplemented by the breeding of some goats, ewe. The cultivating
"beds" were these parcels of land supported by walls
in dry stone that required many efforts. The winter was essentially
devoted to their upkeeping. On these steep hills, the donkeys
were used for the labor and were very appreciated. It was
not rare to cross some donkeys charged with vegetables and
fruits such as broad beans, chick-peas, marrow, nut, almonds...
on the way to the village or a nearby market. Among the most
valuable fruit trees you could find : the fig tree (the figuiera),
the caroubier, the vine (the souca), the olive-tree and citrus
fruits, orange trees or lemon trees.
These trees were put under the protection of saints and in the County of Nice the people proclamed the Saint Grat about the deseace of the plants. His portrait can be found on the altar piece of the church, next to Saint Sebastian whom one requested to protect from the plague. Little by little, the food crops yielded the place to the flowers, the carnation in particular. |
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| Eze, Princes and Writer |
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With
the arrival in the village of prince William of Sweden and
the musicians Balakovic and Barlow in the "années
folles", everybody was charmed by the luminosity and
the majesty of the place just like George Sand and Friedrich
Nietzsche. The commune timidly opens his doors to the tourists.
Eze sea side, served by the railway, develops safe from a
pine forest. Artists and craftsmen settled in the village.
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| The Eze historians | ||
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History
and archaeology teacher of the roman world at the University
of Nice, Pascal Arnaud, managed four excavation campaigns
between 1998 and 2001 on the Mount Bastide. He published an
abstract of his research in the n°9 of the review Archéam,
the whole of the results is being published.
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Xavier
Cottier member of the Figuiera family, one of the oldest in
Eze since the 12th century. He devoted his life for nearly
30 years to the research of the history of Eze. In 2001 he
published on Internet its family files commented with accompanying
commentaires that are kept up to date daily. You can visit
his website at the following address : http://perso.orange.fr/histoiredeze/
or write to him (easyvillage@wanadoo.fr)
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Doctor of
the University of Aix-Marseille, Charles Alexandre Fighiera
was curator of Massena Museum in Nice. He was researcher and
he is continuing his investigations. He wrote many articles
on Eze in the revue Nice Historique and Eze, reference book
for our commune, published four years after his death.
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| Eze & historical date |
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220 bc. J.C.:
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Construction of a castellaras. | |
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IIe s. ad.
J.C.:
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Creation of an oppidum. Designation of Eze in the route of Antonin in the name of Avisionis portus. | |
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Xe siècle:
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Occupation of Eze by Saracens. | |
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1075:
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First mention of the name "Eze" in a document of Saint-Pons Abbey of Nice (today Pasteur hospital). | |
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1229:
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Eze castle is confiscated at the local lord by the count of Provence, Raymond Béranger V. It belongs after to the crown of Anjou-Provence between 1246 to 1388. | |
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1306:
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Foundation of the Brotherhood of the white Penitent in Eze in the vault of Sainte-Croix. Penitents will be, in Eze, more especially charged to provide for the needs for plague-stricken and the leprous ones. The leprosy will remains in Eze until the beginning of the XXe century. | |
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1388:
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Return of the village to the House of Savoy. | |
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1414:
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Ezasques free oneself to their lords and are formed in "communautas". | |
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1543:
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Occupation of the village by the troops of Soliman the Magnificent. |
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1706 :
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Destruction of the castle by the French troops. | |
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1713 :
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Creation of the Brotherhood of the Rosary in the vault of the white Penitent. | |
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1764:
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Beginning of construction of the church ND of the Assumption. | |
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1792:
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Return of Eze to France. Secede from the commune of the Trinity. | |
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1807:
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Realisation of the upper cornice. | |
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1814:
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Eze returns to the House of Savoy. | |
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1860:
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Final return of Eze to France. | |
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1914 :
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The french president Poincaré stays in Eze Sea Side. | |
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1923/53 :
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Prince William of Sweden stays in Eze. | |
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1928:
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Inauguration of the middle Cornice. | |
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1986 :
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July
24, a fire sets ablaze the three cornices for several days.
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