Tende (;

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

and

Royasc Royasc is a dialect bridging the gap between the Ligurian language and the Occitan language. It is spoken in Italy and France. Area of use The Royasc dialect is spoken in the Upper Roya valley, at the boundary of France and Italy. In France, it ...

: ''Tenda'') is a

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 ...

Geography

Tende is located within

Mercantour National Park Mercantour National Park (french: Parc national du Mercantour) a French national park located in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes departments. Since it was created in 1979, the park has proven popular, with 800,000 visitors annu ...

in the French Alps. The mountainous

is bordered by

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

to the north, with the boundary determined by the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

line between the two countries. This line of mountain tops contains more than 20 summits exceeding . A large rectangle of land running east/west, Tende is split from north to south by the

Roya river The Roya ( French, ), Roia (Italian), or Ròia (Brigasc, Occitan) is a river of France and Italy, discharging into the Ligurian Sea. It is long, of which in France. Its drainage basin is about , of which in France.Col de Tende Col de Tende ( it, Colle di Tenda; elevation 1870 m) is a high mountain pass in the Alps, close to the border between France and Italy, although the highest section of the pass is wholly within France. It separates the Maritime Alps from the Lig ...

(Tende Pass), a strategic pass through the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, has been modernized to be a road and railway tunnel.

History

Known to be a populated place in 690, it is unclear when Tende first became an organized settlement. Prehistoric rock engravings have been found in the area, which are now on display in the

Musée des Merveilles Musée des Merveilles in Tende, France is a museum that documents stone age and other historic artefacts from the Mercantour National Park. It opened in 1996. There is notably a large collection of real and reproduced petroglyphs from the surroundin ...

or ''in situ''. Tende is a medieval village of tumultuous history, having belonged successively to the Count of

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; lij, label=Intemelio, Ventemiglia , lij, label= Genoese, Vintimiggia; french: Vintimille ; oc, label= Provençal, Ventemilha ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located southwest of ...

in the tenth century, then the Counts of

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

and the Counts of Lascaris of Ventimiglia before being swapped several times between Italy and France. First to the

Savoyard state The Savoyard state is a term of art used by historians to denote collectively all of the states ruled by the counts and dukes of Savoy from the Middle Ages to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. At the end of the 17th century, its population w ...

, then the

First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...

(later the

Napoleonic Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eur ...

), then restored to the Savoyard

Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

(which became in 1861 the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

). From 1861 to 1947 Tende was part of Italy, and was damaged during the

Italian invasion of France The Italian invasion of France (10–25 June 1940), also called the Battle of the Alps, was the first major Italian engagement of World War II and the last major engagement of the Battle of France. The Italian entry into the war widened its sc ...

in 1940. Tende was the last commune to join the French Republic in 1947, which was endorsed by a local referendum, when

was forced to cede (after defeat in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

) some alpine areas to France. The hillside village is overlooked by the spire-like remnants of the main turret of the castle of the Lascaris, which was built in the 14th century as protection from the attacking Count of Provence, Charles d'Anjou. The castle was destroyed in 1692 when King

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

ordered his Marshal, Catinat, to destroy all fortified structures in France that might challenge his rule. The only complete structure that remains is a circular tower, transformed into a clock during the 19th century.Tende Office de Tourisme, "Tende, a Short Historical Tour" - pamphlet for self-guided walking tour The tolling of the clock's bells can be heard day and night throughout Tende. Tende is located on what was once an important route of the salt trade between Italy and France. During their reign of Tende, the Lascaris would demand a toll of those transporting salt and others passing through the region.

Population

Culture

While the main language of Tende is French, most of Tende's residents also speak Tendasque (which can also refer to the villagers themselves), a variety of the

Ligurian language Ligurian () or Genoese () (locally called or ) is a Gallo-Italic language spoken primarily in the territories of the former Republic of Genoa, now comprising the area of Liguria in Northern Italy, parts of the Mediterranean coastal zone of Fran ...

with Provençal influences. The Tendasque dialect has many similarities with the

Mentonasque Mentonasc (; Mentonasco in Italian, Mentonnais or Mentonasque in French) is a Romance dialect historically spoken in and around Menton, France. It is classified as a dialect of Occitan and a sub-dialect of Vivaro-Alpine, with some strong influen ...

of the coast. Contea di Nizza

Among the village's youth, Tendasque is less prevalent (about 30%), while many of them can speak

. The village recently began celebrating a series of festivals during the summer, each dedicated to an aspect of local culture. One such festival celebrates the Old Tende (the medieval section), and on the second Sunday of each July, a long-standing festival is held in honor of

Saint Eloi Saint Eligius (also Eloy, Eloi or Loye; french: Éloi; 11 June 588 – 1 December 660 AD) is the patron saint of goldsmiths, other metalworkers, and coin collectors. He is also the patron saint of veterinarians, the Royal Electrical and Mechani ...

, patron saint of the village. ''Sugelli'', a distinctive pasta with a thumb print indentation is a local specialty. At the base of the hillside town is a public swimming pool, built around the turn of the millennium. A

via ferrata A via ferrata (Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other locations. The term "via ferrata" is used in most countries and languages except n ...

along the tops of the village's mountains attracts climbers. The trail head can be accessed from near the base of the town clock.

Economy

* Three hydroelectric power stations * Breeding of cows and sheep * Cheeses, honey and jams * Old crystal mine

Transportation

Tende has a railway station on the

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 ...

Breil-sur-Roya Breil-sur-Roya (, literally ''Breil on Roya''; it, Breglio sul Roia or simply ''Breglio''; lij, Breggio; oc, Brelh de Ròia) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Population Geography Breil-sur-Roya as ...

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

line run by the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

, with connecting service from Ventimiglia/Nice in the southwest to

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

to the north. Train services are mostly operated by

Trenitalia Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government, the company was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulation of rail transp ...

. The Train des Merveilles, makes a three daily runs from Nice to Tende. Taking the 8.30am train from Nice (arriving at 10.56am) and returning on the 2.45pm train will give you about three and half good hours for exploration. The train journey itself gives magnificent views of old french towns in mountain valleys.

Twin towns — sister cities

Tende is twinned with: *

Narzole Narzole is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. Narzole borders the following municipalities: Barolo, Bene Vagienna, Cherasco, La Morra, L ...

, Italy (1992)