Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat had once been known as Cap-Saint-Sospir after a sixth-century monk who had lived in the area.[3] In the 8th century, the history of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat changed when the Saracens occupied the site and used it as a base for pirating until the 11th century.

By 1388, the territory of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat with the entire County of Nice was given by treaty to the Dukes of Savoy (see also History of Villefranche-sur-Mer).

The history of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat tells that Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy built a fort at Saint-Hospice in 1561 in an effort to secure the coastline from invaders. The fort was destroyed in 1706 by the Duke of Berwick when Nice was occupied by the French armies of King Louis XIV.

During the 18th century, the history of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat changed when the area - officially part of the Kingdom of Sardinia - was occupied off and on by the French. It was returned to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1814 after Napoleon's abdication.

In 1860, the County of Nice was finally ceded by treaty to France and the peninsula became a magnet for kings and wealthy visitors, a new era in the history of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. The small fishing village of Saint Jean developed and by 1904 was established as a self-standing commune with the rest of the peninsula, separated from nearby Villefranche-sur-Mer.

At the beginning of the 20th century, King Léopold II of Belgium owned an estate on Cap Ferrat and built several houses and an artificial lake. The main residence is the Villa des Cèdres, which has been owned by Marnier-Lapostolle (the founder of Grand Marnier) since 1924 and is now in part a botanical garden called the Jardin botanique Les Cèdres.

In 1905, Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild chose Cap Ferrat to build a Tuscan-style palazzo, now known as Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild museum. This very scenic location can be rented under special conditions to host galas and events in the lush park and gardens.

Today Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat has probably some of the most expensive real estate in the world, and continues to attract the rich. Current residents include theatrical composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.[4]

Some of its Italianate and belle époque estates have hosted a plethora of heads of state, aristocrats, and personalities: King Leopold II of Belgium, Baroness de Rothschild, Charlie Chaplin, Rainier III, David Niven, Somerset Maugham, Jean Cocteau, Lady Kenmare and Roderick Cameron, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Pierre and São Schlumberger, Hubert de Givenchy, Rachel Lambert Mellon, Mary Wells Lawrence, Isadora Duncan, Winston Churchill, French prime ministers Maurice Rouvier and Raymond Barre. Major Berkeley Levett, an English aristocrat and witness in the infamous Royal Baccarat Scandal, lived there with his brewery heiress wife, the former Sibell Bass.[5]

The temperatures drop below 10 °C (50 °F) for only three months of the year (December to February), and winters on the French Riviera are balmy in comparison to the cold and gloomy weather that predominates the northern European countries.

Paloma beach southeast of the port, on the north side small peninsula (St Hospice). Being on a northeast-facing shore and at the base of some tall cliffs. The location is about a 5–10 minutes walk from the port.

Passable beach is on the northwest side of the main peninsula, past the Office de Tourisme and past the zoo (parc zoologique). It's west-facing, with a view across the Rade de Villefranche.

Cro de Peï Pin is the biggest beach, located just north of the port at the Anse Lilong (the bay between the main peninsula and the smaller Ste Hospice peninsula), facing eastward into the Baie des Fourmis and the Tete de Chene. There's a public parking lot alongside the beach.

The Zoo du Cap-Ferrat, which closed down in 2011, had an impressive collection of fauna and flora. There were over 300 varieties of plants, including succulents and cacti. There were also eucalyptus trees that were over 100 years old. A variety of animals also resided in the zoo.

There is a very large bronze statue of the Madonna and Child, the early-19th century chapel, and a military cemetery for the 1914-18 war.

A highlight of St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat is the lighthouse, built in 1862 by decision of Napoleon III who wanted to equip the French littoral with a semaphoric chain. The goal was to ensure a monitoring of navigation, transmit messages to the ships, organize help in the event of maritime disasters, and take part in the first maritime meteorological observations.

This is a small marina with 560 berths. It is very well-sheltered and quiet, located on the French Riviera.

Built in 1908, this stately white palace has hosted many worldwide personalities since it was erected, such as Paul Deschanel, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, Queen Victoria's daughter, who remained a guest for many seasons and was often visited by her brother the Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, who lived for twenty years on Cap Ferrat.

Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

Cap-Ferrat harbour

The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild (or Musée Île-de-France) is an Italian-style villa built between 1905 and 1912 on the request of Baronness Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild. It contains a large art collection and fine furnishing. The villa grounds have an extensive set of seven gardens designed in different styles: French Traditional, Florentine, Spanish, Exotic, Lapidary, Japanese, and Provençal. The villa is located at the northern end (entrance) of the peninsula.

The Les Azuriales Opera Festival, founded in 1997, takes place each year in August in Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild.

With its coastal location, cuisine in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat is based around seafood. Dishes include escalope de mérou au citron, which is sea bass steaks in lime; salmon tournedos with truffles; cod and vegetables in garlic sauce; and skate with capers. Meat dishes include estouffade de sanglier (wild boar) and fillet de beef rossini cooked with foie gras.