Napoleon’s Landing at Golfe-Juan
Here, on March 1, 1815, Napoleon landed after escaping from Elba
The story
Before you is the stele on the old port of Golfe-Juan. Its inscription is simple: “Here Napoleon landed.” This may be the very spot. In 1815 the former emperor was living in exile on the island of Elba. On the twenty-sixth of February he secretly boarded the ship Inconstant, and around midnight a flotilla of seven vessels put to sea. On the first of March, at three in the afternoon, Napoleon landed here with a force of about eleven hundred men. The troop made its first camp in Cannes, then headed into the hills through Grasse. On the seventh of March Napoleon entered Grenoble, and on the twentieth, Paris. So began his famous Hundred Days. The road from Golfe-Juan to Grenoble, about three hundred and twenty kilometers long, has been called the Route Napoléon since 1932. That same year, the column with a marble bust of the emperor was set up in its new place in a nearby garden square. It had been broken and repaired more than once. Every year, on the first weekend of March, the landing is remembered here.
Visiting
The stele and the column stand in the open air and can be seen at any time, free of charge. The column is in the Square Nabonnand on Avenue de la Liberté, about 300 m from the stele. Golfe-Juan station is a few minutes’ walk away. Information: the Vallauris Golfe-Juan tourist office, vallaurisgolfejuan-tourisme.fr.
On the way
Photos
Sources
- Ville de Vallauris Golfe-Juan — Napoléon Bonaparte
- Fondation Napoléon — La Route Napoléon
- Côte d’Azur France — Stèle Napoléon
- Côte d’Azur France — Colonne Napoléon
- Ministère de la Culture, base Mérimée — Colonne commémorative, Golfe-Juan (PA00080907)
- France.fr (Atout France) — La Route Napoléon
This text was written by AI from open sources. An expert will still check it. Found a mistake? Write to us. Support
