When History AND IMAGE MEET

GREEKS and ROMANS
When the hero Hercules, son of Zeus and Alcmena went to achieve his eleventh task, which was to fetch the golden apples from the Hesperides, his path led him in this enchanted place that Pline, Ptolemeus, Lucain and all the other geographers of the Antiquity named as Hercules’s Port (contrary to the Monaco’s one using this name nowadays and which was named Monoecius Port).
Greeks and Romans will use this exceptional harbour and will give it the name of Olivula Portus. Victims of repetitive attack from the barbarians, the inhabitants left the seashores to settle on the hills in Montolivo.

PROVENCE AND SAVOIE

En 1295, Charles II of Anjou, count of Provence, understood the strategic importance of this harbour. He encouraged people to settle back down by allowing them a tax discount, which explains the name of Villa Franca. From 1388, with the bequest of Nice, Villefranche became part of Duchy of Savoie and became the only port of the Nice County, of Savoie and Piemont. French will make an alliance with Turkish and the fleet commanded by Khayr ad-Din Barberousse attacked the harbour.

The Duke of Savoie, Emmanuel-Philibert, decides to build the Mont-Alban fort which overlook on the city and the citadel Saint-Elme where the Festival will take place. The port of la Darse is reorganized to build war ships. Villefranche will successively French then Savoyarde until 1860 where it became definitely part of France.

ENGLISH, RUSSIANS AND AMERICANS
This is a new life, which starts for the city. The “belle époque” period sees tourists arriving from the entire world and particularly British and Russians. Queen Victoria will come back regularly and Empress Federovna will even build a costal road because her nephew the Tsar had the ambition of settling the Russian Mediterranean fleet in Villefranche.

However, at the end of World War II, this is the Americans who will settle here their 6th fleet in the OTAN context..

SCIENCE AND RESEARCH

This is science and research that will take over. The oceanographic observatory of the Pierre et Marie Currie University (Paris VI), hosts at la Darse under the supervision of the CNRS, the oceanographic, marine geosciences and cellular biology laboratories.

In the second half of the 20th century, Villefranche is renamed Villefranche-sur-mer. What could be more natural for the first pleasance port in France ?

PEOPLE
Such a beautiful place could only inspire film directors to shoot their movies. The biggest success shot in Villefranche were :
In 1983 : James Bond "Jamais plus jamais" with Sean Connery and Kim Basinger
In 1986 : « The Jewel of the Nile » directed by Lewis Teague, with Michael Douglas
In 1998 : « Ronin » directed John Frankenheimer with Robert De Niro and Jean Reno
In 2006 : Brice de Nice.
If famous writers lived in Villefranche-sur-Mer, such as Katherine Mansfield, Jean Cocteau or Aldous Huxley, now these are show-business stars that you could meet. Tina Turner and Bono from the band U2 are living there.

WHAT REMAINS ?
Just back from Rio, Eve Ruggieri gave an interview to a journalist. "Madam, you have seen the most beautiful harbour in the world?" She answered: "The most beautiful harbour in the world is the one of Villeranche-sur-mer!"

This is indeed a protected place where you can smell the flowers, the sea and the History present in this city. This is no a coincidence if the International Image and Digital Picture Festival moved over there for its second edition. After the wonders of the Phoenix Park in 2007, it was necessary to offer to its participants a place worthy of image and beauty lovers..

There are still many places full of History that you can visit in Villefranche :

• La Citadelle Saint-Elme, où siége le Festival, imposante forteresse édifiée en 1557. Les pieds dans The Saint-Elme citadel where the Festival will be hold is a massive fortress build in 1557. Right on the seashore, it is surrounded by gardens and hosts four museums.
  
• The Obscure Street, covered on 130m long to protect people of the city against bombardments.
  
• The Council place where the city decisions were took.
  
• The Poilu Street where the architecture of homes is decreasing at every floor.
  
• The Saint-Michel church built on the “Baroque” style with a strange and anonymous lying Christ.
  
• The royal port of la Darse where History and pleasance and mixing together
  
• The Saint-Pierre chapel built during the 14th century and decorated by Jean Cocteau for his friends, the sinners.
  
• The Saint-Michel plateau with the most beautiful viewpoint of the Cote d’Azur and on a clear sky morning, Corsica appears in the horizon.
  
• A huge beach of warm water with guaranteed sun…
  

The second International Image and Digital Picture Festival will welcome you from the 1st to the 15th of July 2008 in one of the most beautiful place of the world. Thanks to the city managed by Gerard Grosgogeat and to the involvement of Jean-Pierre Mangiapan, the first president of the jury in 2007, this is a whole community who is involved to enhance the artworks of the participants.

In 2008, “Planet Earth” will go to the seashore.


Christian Gallo.