Old Mougins
The hill village where Picasso brought his poet and artist friends
The story
Before you is old Mougins, a village on a hilltop. From here you can see the Bay of Cannes, the Lérins Islands, the Estérel mountains and the hills near Grasse. For centuries the village belonged to the abbots of Lérins Abbey, on the island opposite Cannes. Their former house still stands. Walls once surrounded the village. Of the old gates only one survives, the Porte Sarrazine, the Saracen Gate. The name is not accurate: the gate has nothing to do with the Saracens. The fountain on this square has been here since 1894. In 1936 Pablo Picasso moved into the local Hôtel Vaste Horizon, the “Wide Horizon.” The poet Paul Éluard, Jean Cocteau and the photographer Man Ray followed him. Today the building houses the tourist office. In 1961 Picasso bought a house by the Notre-Dame-de-Vie chapel just outside Mougins and lived there until his death in 1973. Other famous people lived here too: Christian Dior owned an old mill, and Jacques Brel lived on Rue des Lombards. The house by the Saracen Gate is now a photography museum.
Visiting
The village is open for walks at any time, free of charge. Mougins tourist office: +33 4 92 92 14 00, [email protected]. In summer it books the “Mougins and Picasso” tour. Details on mougins.fr.
On the way
Photos
Sources
- Ville de Mougins — Le Village
- Musée national Picasso-Paris — Picasso’s final years
- Wikipédia (FR) — Mougins
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