La Turbie (; oc, A Torbia; in Italian "Turbia" from ''tropea'',

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for trophy) is a commune 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, ...

department 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 ...

History

La Turbie was famous in Roman times for the large monument, the

Trophy of Augustus The Tropaeum Alpium (Latin 'Trophy of the Alps', French: ''Trophée des Alpes''), is a Roman trophy (''tropaeum'') celebrating the emperor Augustus's decisive victory over the tribes who populated the Alps. The monument's ruins are in La Turbi ...

, that Augustus made to celebrate his victory over the Ligurian tribes of the area. During the Middle Ages, the village (called then ''Turbia'') was mainly under the dominion of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the La ...

. Dante wrote in his ''Divina Commedia'' that Turbia was the western limit of the Italian

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

. It was alternatively part of

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. Sa ...

or the

Principality of Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque dialect, Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riv ...

, from where the population of Turbia has assimilated the dialect '' Monegasque'', even if the local Ligurian

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

has maintained some characteristics of the nearby Niçois of Nice. Actually the local dialect is nearly extinct, mainly after the 1860 inclusion of the Sardinian

County of Nice The County of Nice (french: Comté de Nice / Pays Niçois, it, Contea di Nizza/Paese Nizzardo, Niçard oc, Contèa de Niça/País Niçard) is a historical region of France located around the southeastern city of Nice and roughly equivalent t ...

. La Turbie is the cradle of automobile mountain races. On 31 January 1897, the last stage of the Marseilles-Nice race was a 17 km hillclimb between

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 ...

and La Turbie;

André Michelin André Jules Michelin (16 January 1853 – 4 April 1931) was a French industrialist who, with his brother Édouard (1859–1940), founded the Michelin Tyre Company (''Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin'') in 1888 in the French ...

, at the wheel of a De Dion powered by a steam engine, won the race at the incredible average speed of 31.8 km per h. On 30 March 1900, German driver Wilhelm Bauer crashed and died, being the first driver killed during a hillclimb speed event. On 1 April 1903, William Eliot Morris Zborowski, Count de Montsaulvain, died at the wheel of his Mercedes nearly at the same place as Bauer. As reported in The New York Times, 2 April 1903, the French Minister of the Interior ordered the Prefect of Alpes-Maritimes to "stop the further use of the Nice-La Turbie course for automobiles." The race organizer, the Nice Automobile Club, obtained the lift of the ban in 1909 and the race resumed. From 1968 to 1995, nearly the same route was used for the last stage of the cyclist race Paris-Nice (excepting 1977). This time trial often decided the final winner of Paris-Nice. In 1972, Raymond Poulidor was able to defeat

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

, who had defeated

Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the ...

three years before. Sean Kelly, seven time winner of Paris-Nice (1981-1988), won the La Turbie hillclimb five times. On 13 September 1982, Princess Grace de Monaco was killed in a fatal car accident at Cap-d'Ail, near La Turbie, but on a road called "Route de la Turbie". The commune formerly included the communes of

Beausoleil BeauSoleil (French, ''beautiful sun'') is a Cajun band from Louisiana, United States. Band history Founded in 1975, BeauSoleil (often billed as "BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet") released its first album in 1977 and became one of the most well ...

and Cap-d'Ail, which was disestablished at the beginning of the 20th century. Only the old main town, around the remaining structure of the Roman Trophy of Augustus, forms the current commune.

Geography

The boundaries of La Turbie were formerly more extensive and included the territory now contained in the town of

, formerly known as Haut-Monte-Carlo, owing to its proximity to

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. The commune of La Turbie retains a smaller, common boundary with part of the

Principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall un ...

. La Turbie can be reached either from Cap-d'Ail on the coast or the Grand Corniche. Within the town is the

, also known as the Trophée des Alpes.

Sights

A limestone outcrop above La Turbie is called the

Tête de Chien The Tête de Chien (Dog's Head) is a 550 m (1,804 ft) high rock promontory near the village of La Turbie in the Alpes-Maritimes department of France. It overlooks the Principality of Monaco, and is the highest point on the Grande Corniche roa ...

("head of dog"), a folk etymology deriving from its former name, ''Testa de camp'' ("head of (military) camp").''A Book of the Riviera'', Sabine Baring-Gould, 1905 La Turbie is built, partly, with old stones recovered from the ruins of the Trophy of the Alpes (

), a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

monument built by the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

to celebrate his victory over the Ligurian tribes which lived in the mountains of the area and attacked the merchants plying the Roman trade routes. The association football club

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...

have their training ground in La Turbie since 1981. The training center is located in an old quarry and has 2 natural grass pitches as well as an artificial turf "small pitch".

Population

Twin towns — sister cities

La Turbie is twinned with: * Sarre, Aosta Valley, Italy

Personalities

*Prince Albert II of

owns a 56 acres estate, Roc Agel, on the slopes of

Mont Agel Mont Agel is a mountain on the border between France and Monaco. The summit of this mount, at above sea level, is on the French side, but the highest point of Monaco, lying on a pathway named Chemin des Révoires, is on its slopes, at an altit ...

. *

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

had a residence in La Turbie until 1993.

In pop culture

La Turbie was one of the locations where the 1998 film '' Ronin'' was filmed. La Turbie also featured as a location in the 1943 novel "Biggles Fails to Return" by author Captain W.E. Johns.