Gorbio Provence-Beyond (Beyond the French Riviera) ®
Alpes-Maritimes (06500)
Population: 930
Altitude: 360 m
Michelin map: #115 "French Riviera - Alpes-Maritimes"
Nearby:
[ Châteauneuf-Villevieille 33 km | L' Escarène 32 | Eze 16 | Monte-Carlo 11 | Nice 22 | Sainte Agnès 9 | Sospel 30 | La Turbie 12 ]
Photos:
1 Gorbio village perched beneath the rocky mountains (44 k)
2 A closer view of the perched village (39 k)
3 The main village square on a sunny Easter Sunday (42 k)
4 A narrow medieval street (31 k)
5 Young footballer with Easter goodies, waiting by arched passage (38 k)
6 A small square (place) inside the village (40 k)
7 Gorbio village - contributed by Janet (47 k) Photo copyright Janet Marshall, 1999.
Below: [ History | O.T. | Dining | Sports | Hiking | Lodging ]
This is a lovely little medieval village, really isolated from the tourist crowds of the nearby coast. Gorbio is only a 4-km eagle's flight from Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, between Menton and Monaco, but it's more like 12 km by the narrow twisty road up through the Val de Gorbio.
The village perched on a hilltop forested with olive groves, and surrounded by towering rocky mountains. The village center is the main square, with its large and rather atypical fountain. The lovely big tree in the center [photo-3] is an elm (orme) planted in 1713; it measure 5m60 around. The typical little medieval streets going out from the square are narrow and stone paved, with vaulted passages and some very old and picturesque buildings.
The few shops in the village include a Gîte de France and the pottery-art-souvenir shop La Cave de Gorbio. The tourists here tended to be French and Italian people from this region, here to stroll, sit in the sun, have lunch and relax. The narrow roads filter out the big tourist buses.
History
Name
First record, 1157 Gorbio, as a homage to Gênes of the Comte de Vintimille.
Celto-Ligurian:
There was originally a Ligurian village here.
Medieval:
Gorbio was attached to Savoy in 1388, and reattached to France in 1860.
- Mairie
- Tel: 04 92 10 66 50
Dining
We found at least three places to eat:Auberge du Village -- fairly up-market Beau-Sejour -- a brightly painted yellow with green shutters, on the main square Les Terrasses -- a café and restaurant also on the main square, with an upper terrace with a view; the bar here is popular with the locals, and it has a great collection of "casquettes American" (baseball caps), many from various F1 grand-prix races across the years. We had lunch at Les Terrasses. The "plat du jour" on Easter Sunday was a simple Chevreau en Sauce avec Ravioli, but they also have some more expensive and sophisticated menus.
- Hiking
- Maps:
- Didier Richard (1/50,000) #26 "Pay d'Azur";
- IGN (1/25,000) #3742 OT "Nice-Menton"
The GR51 (Balcony of the Cote d'Azur) goes through Gorbio. To the northeast, the GR51 passes Sainte Agnes, the hamlet of Monti, crosses the river valley to the east, then continues on nearly to the Italian border where it joins the north-south GR52. To the south, the GR51 goes towards the coast, where it follows the hills above the coast towards Nice and beyond.
There are a couple of fairly large 1-day loop hikes from Gorbio. A northern loop goes to Sainte Agnes and the Col de la Madonne de Gorbio (925 m). A western loop goes north to the Col de la Madonne de Gorbio, south along a ridge at about 1000 m, passing below the peak of Mont Agel (1239 m), then returns along the GR51.
