Villa Cyrnos is a

Belle Époque The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque (; French for "Beautiful Epoch") is a period of French and European history, usually considered to begin around 1871–1880 and to end with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era ...

-style villa in

Roquebrune-Cap-Martin Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (; oc, Ròcabruna Caup Martin or ; it, Roccabruna-Capo Martino, ; Mentonasc: ''Rocabrüna''; Roquebrune until 1921) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Southeastern Fr ...

on the

Côte d'Azur The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

. It was designed by

Hans-Georg Tersling Hans-Georg Tersling (7 December 1857 – 13 November 1920) was a Danish architect who lived and worked for most of his life on the French Riviera where he became one of the most significant and productive architects of the Belle Époque. His ...

, one of the most productive architects of the period on the French Riviera.

History

The villa, named after the ancient Greek for

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

, was built in 1892 for

Eugénie de Montijo ''Doña'' María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick, 19th Countess of Teba, 16th Marchioness of Ardales (5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo (), was Empress of the French from her marriage to Emperor Napo ...

, wife of

Napoleon III, Emperor of the French Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and the last

Empress consort of the French This is a list of the women who were queens or empresses as wives of French monarchs from the 843 Treaty of Verdun, which gave rise to West Francia, until 1870, when the Third Republic was declared. Living wives of reigning monarchs technic ...

. The former Empress wanted her own palace instead of staying with her friend

Elisabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sc ...

, known as "Sisi", Empress of Austria. Elisabeth became a regular guest at the villa.

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

was another of Eugénie's friends and visited the villa annually. In 1920, the villa was inherited by Marie-Laetitia Bonaparte who, during her widowhood, maintained a scandalous relationship with Norberto Fischer, a military man twenty years her junior. As the sole heir in her will, he inherited the house in 1926 and lived there—since his 1928 marriage, with opera singer

Vina Bovy Vina Bovy (Malvina Bovi Van Overberghe) born Ghent 22 May 1900, died in the same city 16 May 1983 was a Belgian operatic soprano. Rosenthal H., "Vina Bovy". In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London & New York, 1997. She studied ...

—until his death in 1950. In 1960 Bovy sold the house. (interview with Vina Bovy)

Villa Cypris

It is adjacent to Villa Cypris.

References

External links

Houses completed in 1892 Houses in Alpes-Maritimes French Riviera Villas in France Belle Époque {{france-struct-stub