GORBIO – A Charming Village in the South of France – The Most Beautiful Villages of France

Perched above Menton and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Gorbio is one of those villages with an authentic soul that we enjoy visiting. Its houses with porticoes, its passages under vaults, its pointed door and its 300-year-old elm tree give it all its charm. Dominated by Mont Agel, the summit of Gorbio, the Col de Madone and the summit of Briançon, this village will surprise you with its rocky and wild environment…

Gorbio has been populated since the end of prehistory, as evidenced by the product of excavations on a site located just above the current village and the multiple rock shelters with cyclopean walls spread over the whole of the town. The objects of the excavations are exhibited in the prehistory museum of Menton: various human and animal bones, pottery shards…

The village will move to its current site in the form of the Templar Commandery of Agerbol built by Count Ottone II of Ventimiglia according to the archives of Ventimiglia Cathedral.

There is a first mention of the village under the name of “Golbi” in 1157. It appears under its current name in 1301.

Stronghold of the Counts of Ventimiglia (12th and 13th centuries), the village was owned by the Counts of Provence between 1257 and 1285, then returned to the Counts of Ventimiglia, then to their heirs, the Lascaris family. In the 17th and 18th centuries, other families, such as the Isnardi, the De Gubernatis, the Raimondi, then the Corvesi, the Alziari de Malaussène, the Guigliotti in turn held shares of seigneury there.

Between 1400 and 1580, the Basin, Imbert, Maulandi, Muratore, Pastor, Raimondi and Rocca families lived in the village. The Dental de Peillon, the Giausseran de Villefranche, the Lottier de Peille and the Vial de La Mortola settled there in the 17th century.

Since 1388, the county of Nice has belonged to the counts and then the dukes of Savoy. Gorbio then follows the destiny of the county of Nice and is attached to France in 1860 after a plebiscite which gives Gorbio: 26 “no” to the attachment and 59 “yes”.

In 1793, Anna Maria Lantiéri will distinguish herself in the resistance against the revolutionary French occupying forces, resistance which was called Barbétisme.

At the Risorgimento Museum in Turin, there is a trace of an Alessandro de Gubernatis, of Gorbio, sergeant in the Pinerolo brigade, whose head was put on a price for Carbonarisme and was executed on June 14, 1833 in Chambéry by decision of the King of Piedmont -Sardinia.

At the end of the 19th century, the village will benefit from the development of tourism

Gorbio owes its name to the torrent which crosses it; its territory is quite modest (7 km²) but very steep. In the heart of the medieval village, the rows of small streets will take you through covered passages and charming squares hosting old fountains. While strolling, take a look at the architecture: you will identify magnificent residences of yesteryear recognizable by their old doors.

Obviously, notice on the village square the elm of 1713, with impressive proportions. In the heart of the village, it stands as a majestic tree and is the pride of the inhabitants. A saying from the 18th century recalls that under the elm, the representatives of the village met to make community decisions: “Every man, under the elm, is an “intero” man (strong in his rights)”

Lascaris Museum in Gorbio
The Château-Museum Lascaris
The Lascaris, counts of Ventimiglia, were the first lords of Gorbio. Built in the 12th century with its defense tower, the Château des Lascaris now houses the works of the Indian painter Raza, an intermittent resident of Gorbio, who offered his art collection to the town in 2007. The exhibition is free.

DISCOVERGorbio Saint Barthelemy Church
Churches and chapels
Among the churches and chapels to see in Gorbio, note the Saint-Barthélémy church, with its trompe-l’oeil façade by François Zanatta. Inside, you can admire the paintings made by the artists who decorated the Basilica of Menton, and mainly an “Adoration of the Shepherds” attributed to Barthélémy Puppo.

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