Architectural heritage
Country houses
The 17thand 18th centuries saw the apogee of these rural dwellings, linked to a farm. Farm buildings were arranged around the master's house. The nobles of the time, who owned a town house, also wanted a country home. But the bastide was more than that; it was a country mansion and a source of income. A few bastides still survive in the region:
In Opio: the Grande Bastide. Its olive grove was the largest in the region. It has now been replaced by the Opio golf course. The Château de la Bégude, located on the golf course, is also an ancient bastide.
In Châteauneuf: the Magnanerie. Used for raising silkworms, it was surrounded by mulberry plantations until the 19th century. It is now surrounded by restanques planted with olive trees.
In Bar-sur-Loup, the former paper mill, active from the 16th to the 20th century, was a large building.
The sheepfolds
The sheepfolds were used to house the flock (goats, lambs, sheep) as well as the dogs and shepherds. They were simple, long buildings with a single-pitch tiled roof. The cowshed and drinking trough were located on the first floor, so that the heat from the animals could be used to warm the men's living quarters in the attic above. Two fairly well-preserved sheepfolds can be seen in Caussols.
Jas
Not to be confused with a mas, a jas generally refers to a large sheepfold. It should be noted, however, that in certain areas of Provence or the Southern Alps, a jas can also refer to a simpler, covered shelter for livestock. Three jas, all in ruins, can still be seen to the north of the Tourrettes-sur-Loup commune: Jas de l'Éouvière, Jas Vieux and Jas des Bouirades.
Bories
Associated with pastoral life, bories are igloo-shaped dry-stone huts with domed roofs. They date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when pastoralism was the main activity on the plateaux. Bories were very basic, allowing shepherds to store their tools and crops, or to eat their meals under cover or by the fire. The vast majority of bories can be seen in the southern part of the Caussols commune, although many are in ruins. A hike from Cipières will take you to the Borie du Grau de Pons.
The mills
Some mills were powered by horses, mules or oxen. These were known as "blood mills". They were used for low-strength grains such as flour, and featured a "rotating" millstone that moved over a "stationary" millstone.
Oil mills, on the other hand, were known as défici, a Provençal term that has now disappeared, but which can be found in old songs and texts. Placed on the banks of a river or on a diversion aqueduct, they were equipped with large paddle wheels. Crushing the olives and pits required the use of a heavy millstone, driven by a powerful motive force. These mills were an integral part of village life, and a meeting place for local residents at harvest time.
From the 17th century onwards, numerous oil and wheat mills were built along the region's waterways:
In Le Rouret, on the banks of the Miagne, there were three oil mills.
In Valbonne, on the banks of the Brague, seven mills are thought to have existed. Among them, the Ange flour mill, whose wheel is very well preserved; the Gabres oil mill and the Verrière mill, both no longer in existence. Some parts of the Eganaude mill, which has also disappeared, have been deposited on the Place Sophie Laffitte in Sophia Antipolis.
In Tourrettes-sur-Loup, the remains of a mill can be seen in rue de la Bourgade, on a site that has now been converted into a dwelling. The large wheel is still in place and well preserved.
In Courmes, the Bramafan flour mill was established in 1900. Wheat was transported by mule or cart from Courmes, Coursegoules, Gréolières, Cipières and Gourdon. The mill ceased to operate in the early 1960s, due to a lack of grain to grind.
Military architecture
In the Middle Ages, with the concentration of settlements around seigniorial castles, towns and villages grew up around an existing stronghold, with the notable exception of Valbonne, created in the 16th century and built during a period of peace, next to the abbey of Sainte-Marie de Valbonne. Each of the Villages & Vallées d'Azur communes has a castle, sometimes two as in Gréolières, in varying degrees of preservation. Some villages still have ramparts or are surrounded by rampart houses.
The châteaux of Cipières (13th century) and Gourdon, which are fairly well preserved, are now privately owned.
Remains of the castles of Caussols, above the hamlet of Saint-Lambert, and of the Castellas de Roquefort-les-Pins (11th century), an 8-metre-high rectangular tower of the château de Bézaudun-les-Alpes, a few sections of wall and the entrance gate of the Castrum de Bosisone (13th century) at Bouyon.
In Gréolières, two feudal castles are still visible in the village. Gréolières-Hautes, now in ruins, occupied a rocky spur above the present-day village. The ruins are now privately owned. Gréolières-Basse, in the heart of today's village, is partially in ruins and also privately owned.
The castles of Opio and Tourrettes-sur-Loup now house the town halls.
The former château in Coursegoules became the chapel of the Pénitents Blancs in the 17th century.
In Châteauneuf, the original château has disappeared. It has been replaced by a 17th-century building resembling an Italian palace. It is now privately owned.
In Bar-sur-Loup, the 13th-century château of the Counts of Grasse has had its moat filled in and its keep reduced in size. The cellars are now a municipal cultural space.
The facades and roofs, the staircase and stairwell, and the chimney of the château du Rouret are classified as historic monuments.
