commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
in the
Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in southeastern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Lucéram is in the region
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pref ...
. Its inhabitants are called the ''Lucéramois''.
Luceram village is home of Peïra-Cava, the first station of winter sports department created in 1909. The village has many ecclesiastical and medieval monuments and altarpieces of
Ludovico Brea
Ludovico (or Louis) Brea (c. 1450 – c. 1523) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in and near Genoa.
Brea was born into a family of coopers in Nice, and later moving to Liguria, he painted numerous altarpieces that display ...
.
Population
Geography
The town is built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Foil. In the lower valley, there is an intersection of the
salt road
A salt road (also known as a salt route, salt way, saltway, or salt trading route) refers to any of the prehistoric and historical trade routes by which essential salt was transported to regions that lacked it.
From the Bronze Age (in the 2nd m ...
that leads from the port of
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
in
Savoy
Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps.
Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.
Savo ...
, through the
valley of Vésubie
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...
. The village lies at 650 meters altitude, and 27 kilometers from Nice by D 2566.
Toponymy
The origin of the name "Lucéram" is uncertain.
Lucéram is originally the name Lucerius or Lucerus. Lucerius was a Benedictine monk.
The name is a derivative of a Luceranus that appears in text in 1057, and may have given the village its name.
The Latin phrase ''Lux eram'' ("I was light") could also be the origin of the name.
Durante gives another expression, ''Lucus eram'' ("I was a sacred grove"), which appears to refer to the ancient worship of the forest that surrounds the village. This etymology is questionable when it is compared with its Latin name Pagus Liccirum. Louis Durante also indicates that the village was built on a fully wooded eminence. In ancient texts there are also the names Lucis-ramus and Luciramus. Luceram was the capital of the tribe of Lepontii quoted on listing Trophée des Alpes.
Sights
Sights include the church St. Margaret (late 15th century), housing an altarpiece by
Ludovico Brea
Ludovico (or Louis) Brea (c. 1450 – c. 1523) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in and near Genoa.
Brea was born into a family of coopers in Nice, and later moving to Liguria, he painted numerous altarpieces that display ...
and a 13th-century ''Pietà''.
Culture
Each year, the mayor and villagers decorate the village in the theme of Christmas. The village is covered with pine branches and red and gold ribbons. There are nativity scenes set up on window sills, in cellars or any available nook and cranny.