Hilltop villages, while picturesque in the extreme, offer up a window into a very uncertain past.  One such village is Sainte-Agnès sitting high above the cities of Menton and Roquebrune-Cap Martin in the far southeastern corner of France. Proclaimed as the highest lying coastal village in France, the village also belongs to the unique group “Plus Beaux Villages de France” – the Most beautiful Villages of France. Set 760 meters above the Mediterranean, the view over the towns of Menton and Cap-Martin-Roquebrune are magnificent. Walking through the narrow medieval alleys is a treat onto itself.

Sainte-Agnès dates to Roman times and beyond. One legend has a Roman princess, and her traveling partners caught in a fierce storm up high here. They found a cave in which to hide from elements. In thanks for their protection, she had a chapel erected to her patron saint around which the initial settlers gathered.

LEGENDS

Agnès was a young girl born of Roman nobility and raised as a Christian. Spurned by men of similar high rank because of her devotion to religious purity, her name was submitted to authorities as a Christian. This was the time of Christian persecution during the reign of Emperor Diocletian – 304 AD. Her father urged her to deny her faith, but she refused. She was then dragged naked through the streets of Rome to a brothel. Following this, she was tried and sentenced to death. Eventually, the 13-year-old girl was beheaded after flames parted away from her as her persecutors tried first to burn her at the stake. Over the years, she became the patron saint for chastity and purity.  oung girls and girl scouts also look to her as their patron.

Another early legend regarding village’s early life concerns the Muslim pirate Haroum. A successful pirate of the 9^th century, he fell in love with Anna, a girl from around here, he added her to his harem but only after agreeing to convert to Christianity. With Haroum’s death, Anna became a nun. She also founded a chapel, also in a cave, devoting it to her patron saint – also Sainte-Agnès – with the village grew from. A couple of alleys reflect this legend with the Montée du Seigneur Haroum and the Rue des Sarrasins.

BEYOND LEGEND

While legends are fun, humans have lived in and around Sainte-Agnès since almost a thousand years before Christ. Romans used the peak as a stronghold. The Counts of nearby Ventimiglia began the castle atop the rock around the end of the tenth century with control changing hands between the Counts of Provence, the Grimaldi family and the House of Savoy. The walls and towers of the feudal residence became abandoned in the 14^th century as the village formed in its present location below the former castle. The castle was partially destroyed in 1691 though it was reused in the 18^th century.

GROS OUVRAGE SAINTE-AGNÈS

Here is another fort within a fort. Two kilometers of tunnels and rooms dug out of the rock overlying the fort more than 55-meters deep. This was one of the most ambitious of the Alpine Maginot forts built.

There was no water or sewage for the village below until 1960. With the fort, these were normal amenities in 1938, plus a power plant for electricity, central heating, ventilation, regulated air to discharge gases and keep unwanted chemicals out, barracks, kitchen, latrines, and stores to keep the fort self-sufficient for three months. Noise was a problem as was the lack of sunlight. The ultraviolet lamp evolved from scientists attached to the army.  Ironically, the fort was built by an Italian company Spada.

GO Sainte-Agnès had the mission of monitoring the coastline around Menton. The formidable power of the fort’s artillery proved a strong deterrent to the Italian attempts to advance in June 1940. The fort erected between 1931 and 1934 developed as one of several forts devoted to the defense of Menton. A crew of 318 men garrisoned the fort.

Seven blocks scattered about under the mountain popping out on the east and southern rises of the mountain, each block with its own self-sufficiency – a latrine, its own ammunition magazines, command post, and ventilation-air filtration system. As with all Maginot blocks, barbed wire networks surrounded each block with façades protected by diamond ditches and machine guns in either cloches or gun embrasures.

Entrance Block

Block 1 is the mixed entrance lying at the south end of the village at an elevation of 671 meters. Materiel went into the fort through an open drawbridge while soldiers had their own armored door beside it. The exterior of the entry block was defended by four grenade launcher slots and embrasures for three machine guns. An unloading area for trucks and mules was just inside the materiel door – another armored door and two machine gun slots protected further entry into the fort. A narrow-gauge railway system extended the transportation of supplies throughout the fort with hand-pushed minecarts.

Artillery Blocks

Block 2 lies a few meters south of the entrance. Here is the best-armed block of the entire Maginot line. The weapons stood on three separate levels due to space requirements. The block faced south.  Inside, there were four embrasures on the ground level for two 75-mm mortar guns (12-13 rounds per minute out to 5.9 km) and two 135-mm bomb launchers (6 rounds per minute out to 6 km). Below, two slots allowed 81-mm mortars (12-15 rounds per minute out to 3.6 km). Upstairs contained an embrasure for a heavy twin machine gun. For close protection of the block, two machine gun slots, a GFM cloche and six grenade launching chutes were present. Note, the GFM cloche was a small iron bell protruding above ground. It could be used for observation or for a machine gun to provide up close defense.

There was also an observation cloche on the ground level with optical slots facing the forts at Mont-Agel and Roquebrune. Gun embrasures were protected by steel frames set into concrete. The armor was battleship-worthy 10-cm thick surmounted by a concrete visor and with a sliding shutter in the middle to close off the embrasure if needed.

block 3

Block 3 lies to the north under the castle high above. This artillery block faces to the north, on the ground level there are embrasures for two 75-mm mortar guns and a heavy twin machine gun. Beneath this level, two 81-mm mortars worked. Additionally for the block, there was a GFM cloche, an observation cloche and an optical station aimed towards GO Castillon.

Infantry Blocks

Block 4 is on the east slope with embrasures for two machine guns, two grenade chutes and an observation cloche.

Blocks 5 and 6 were small blockhouses on their own – not connected to the main fort. These blocks had a slot for a machine gun and two grenade chutes. These blocks provided protection against would-be attackers trying to climb the slopes below. Block 5 set just below Block 2 facing east.  Block 6 sat at the north end also facing south.

Protection for the GO was further provided by the POs at Cold des Banquettes in the north and Col de Garde to the south. The fort cost some 16.8 million francs.

At war and beyond

With the battle for Menton in full swing by 21 June, the fort kept busy for the next few days until the 25 June armistice. Block 1 opened fire on the coastal roads first. On 22 June, the 75mm mortars of Block 3 fired towards the threatened APs of Scuvion and Pierre Pointue. The next day, those mortars join Block 2 in re-orienting their fire down upon Italians threatening Menton. A total of 1,201 75mm shells and 80 81-mm shells along with another 273 shells from a 155-mm battery located near the fort fired off in those few days to great effect helping stem the Italian advance below for much of the time.

In 1944 following the Allied invasions in Provence – 15 August, the Germans withdrew into the mountains, especially following the fall of Nice at the end of August. Canadians and Free French troops liberated the fort 8 September.

The fort remained in Army use through the 1950s in case of a Warsaw Pact invasion of northern Italy. In April 1961, the fort again reoccupied in case of a landing by those involved with the Algerian putsch. GO Sainte-Agnès became part of the village in 1990 which developed the museum.

VISITING SAINTE-AGNÈS TODAY

If you have your own car, you must find parking outside the village because the alleys are much too small and narrow. There is a large parking lot on the final hairpin turn below the village next to the Saint-Sébastien Chapel. More parking slots are found on Avenue de Verdun with its two hairpins leading to the Place de l’Église – the center of the village. There is also a parking lot at the end of the Avenue du Château next to the entrance to the Maginot fort.

One particular highlight in Sainte-Agnès is the Church of Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, dating in part from 1535 although much of the present church is a reconstruction from 1744, hence the baroque design.

Alternatively, you can walk here on the Grand Randonee 51.

BUS CONNECTIONS

Alternatively, you can get up to the Place de l’Église on a bus coming up from the center of Menton. Zest Bus Line #10 leaves from the Menton “Gare Routière” on Avenue de Sospel. The next stop is the SNCF train station for Menton. I would recommend getting on at the first stop. These are small buses because of the very sharp steep hairpin turns needed to ascend the mountain slopes. Even with a small bus, we needed a couple attempts at some of the tight turns. 

It takes about an hour to go from Menton up to Sainte-Agnès. Currently, there are six buses a day going up Monday through Saturday. On public holidays and Sundays, there are only four. Costs for a ticket come to 2 € for a one-way ticket or 5 € for a day ticket. The little buses become very crowded, so not getting on at the first stops, you probably need to stand.

The town proper extends down the mountainside to the southeast where the city hall sits. To walk from the city hall to the village atop, you can start out on the Chemin de Pisa, continuing upward on the Sentier Sainte-Lucie. There are several other pathways reaching Sainte-Agnès.

UP TO THE CASTLE AND INCREDIBLE VIEWS

The ruins atop the mountain are still visitable.  Stairs lead, somewhat steeply, up from the upper south end of the village. Follow signs to the “Château” – castle – and “Jardin Medieval” – medieval garden. 

The views from the top are incredible. It is hard to turn away and descend.  Looking out over the sea, Corsica is possibly in view if conditions are clear enough.

Beneath the uppermost part of the castle is the Jardin Medieval, a mock up of a former medieval garden.

Fort Tours

To visit the inside of the Maginot fort, you need a tour. From 1 February to 30 September, there are tours Wednesday to Sunday offered at 1030-1200, 1430-1600 and 1600-1730 – closed Monday and Tuesday.  From 1 October to 31 January tours only occur on Saturday and Sunday, again at the same times – 1030-1200, 1430-1600, and 1600-1730. 

hiking

Grand Randonnée 51 visits Sainte-Agnès. This trail runs much of the length of the French Mediterranean coast in the hills above. The trail has had some changes lately because of trail washout, not always obvious to the non-French speaker.

FOOD AND STAY

There is a restaurant on the east end of the fort, Restaurant Le Righi. This restaurant originally served as an officers’ club here at the fort. Good food and stupendous views await.

There is a creperie open in the afternoon as well as two other restaurants – Lily’s and Saint-Yves.

To stay the night, there is one hotel-restaurant, the Saint Yves – 76 Rue Sarrasins – 06500 Sainte-Agnès; tel 04 93 35 91 45 plus several rooms on offer through AirBnB.com and Vrbo.com.

To better appreciate Sainte-Agnès, I recommend at least on night or more. The quiet, the views the history … simply a superb experience. Stroll along the cobbled streets and through vaulted passages enjoying the medieval feel to Sainte-Agnes, enhanced by numerous small architectural details, while enjoying the small art shops and terraced restaurants along the way. Unlike some of the perched villages in this part of Provence, most of the houses in Sainte-Agnes have been restored.