What to see in Saint Paul de Vence, where it is located, history and what to do in the ancient fortified hilltop village on the French Riviera in France.
Tourist information
It is a picturesque fortified medieval village, located on a hill in the hinterland, a short distance from Nice.
The small town, with its well-preserved appearance, was a source of inspiration for famous artists, such as Henry Matisse and Marc Chagall, and constitutes an important cultural destination.
In the 1960s it was a meeting place for important art collectors, artists, gallery owners, as well as intellectuals, poets and film actors.
Here is the Maegth Foundation, a museum in nature, which houses one of the largest European collections of works of the twentieth century.
What see
– Saint-Paul museum: hosts temporary exhibitions dedicated to artists who have marked the history of the country, including Marc Chagall, André Verdet, Jacques Prévert and many others.
– Folon chapel: wonderful work created by the Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon, it is also called the Chapel of the White Penitents, named after the members of the brotherhood of St. Paul who established their headquarters here.
– Collégiale de la Conversion de Saint Paul de Vence: adjacent to the chapel, at the highest point of the town, stands this church to whose primitive Romanesque construction other architectural motifs in different styles were added, above all Baroque.
– Chagall cemetery: on the plateau du Puy, corresponding to the initial nucleus of the city, there is the cemetery where Marc Chagall, a famous painter who lived in Saint-Paul de Vence from 1966 to 1985, lies.
– History museum: to know the history of this town, we can visit this permanent exhibition dedicated to Local history which, through the characters represented by wax statues, illustrates the most significant events.
