Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne
A village above the Siagne gorge where the conductor Igor Markevitch is buried
The story
Before you is Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne, a village on a plateau about 475 meters above the sea. Below flows the Siagne river. Here it separates the Alpes-Maritimes from the Var department. In the ninth century the monks of Lérins Abbey received this land. The name is explained in two ways: some trace it to Julius Caesar, others to Saint Caesarius, bishop of Arles. In the fourteenth century, at the wish of the Count of Provence, the village was enclosed by a wall with three gates. The viewpoint was built where the “granaries of Caesar” once stood. To the north and east you see the Alps and the mountains beyond Grasse, to the west the Tanneron hills and the Lac de Saint-Cassien. The parish church was built in 1714–1722, and the fortified house of the Cresp family became the town hall. The Canal de la Siagne begins near Saint-Cézaire: since the 1860s it has carried the river’s water to Cannes. Igor Markevitch, a conductor and composer born in Kyiv in 1912, lived in the village and is buried here. One of the squares bears his name. And around the village about a dozen dolmens have been found, ancient tombs made of stone slabs.
Visiting
The village is open at any time. Markets on Tuesdays and Saturdays on Place Général de Gaulle. From Grasse, take Sillages bus line B. More on paysdegrassetourisme.fr.
Photos
Sources
- Wikipédia (FR) — Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne
- Provence 7 — Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne
- Office de Tourisme du Pays de Grasse — Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne
- Wikipédia (FR) — Canal de la Siagne
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