Villafranca Marittima
| Villefranche-sur-Mer | ||
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| Commune | ||
A view of the harbour at Villefranche-sur-Mer
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 Villefranche-sur-Mer
Location within Provence-A.-C.d'A. region
Villefranche-sur-Mer
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| Coordinates: 43°42′18″N 7°18′45″E / 43.705°N 7.3125°ECoordinates: 43°42′18″N 7°18′45″E / 43.705°N 7.3125°E | ||
| Country | France | |
| Region | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | |
| Department | Alpes-Maritimes | |
| Arrondissement | Nice | |
| Canton | Beausoleil | |
| Intercommunality | Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor (2008–2014) | Martino Lopez | |
| Area1 | 4.88 km2 (1.88 sq mi) | |
| Population (2010)2 | 5,471 | |
| • Density | 1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 06159 /06230 | |
| Elevation | 0–575 m (0–1,886 ft) | |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Villefranche-sur-Mer (French: [vilfʁɑ̃ʃ syʁ mɛːʁ]; Niçard: Vilafranca de Mar, Italian: Villafranca Marittima, pronounced [vilːaˈfraŋka maˈritːima]) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera.
Villefranche-sur-Mer adjoins the city of Nice to the east along Mont Boron, Mont Alban and Mont Vinaigrier, and 10 km (6.2 mi) south west of Monaco. The bay (rade) of Villefranche is one of the deepest natural harbours of any port in the Mediterranean Sea and provides safe anchorage for large ships, reaching depths of 95 m (320 ft) between the Cape of Nice and Cap Ferrat; it extends to the south to form a 500 m (1700 ft) abyss known as the undersea Canyon of Villefranche at about one nautical mile off the coastline.
The town limits extend to the hills surrounding the bay climbing from sea level to an altitude of 520 m (1750 ft) at Mont-Leuze, reflecting on land the features found offshore. The three "Corniches" or main roads linking Nice to Italy pass through Villefranche.
The site of what is now Villefranche and surrounding Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat has been settled since prehistoric times. Celto-ligurian tribes roamed the area and established farming communities on the surrounding hills. The Greeks and later the Romans used the natural harbour as a stop-over en route to the Greek settlements around the Western Mediterranean. After the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, the Romans built an extension of the Via Aurelia (Aurelian Way), which passed through the settlement of Montolivo.
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