Situated just 18 km from Nice airport, in the direction of Monaco, lies the very attractive and picturesque perched medieval village of Eze. For truly outstanding panoramic views of Eze you’ll find the drive along le Grande Corniche breath-taking as you look down onto the bays of Cap Ferrat and Villefranche-sur-Mer.

The climb up to the top of the medieval village can be a little tiring as it’s quite steep. Of all the perched villages along the Côte d’Azur, this one is the most exhausting. However, taking things slowly and resting a moment or two to browse the lovely boutiques and art galleries along the way up will help anyone slightly out of breath to recover and continue their journey up. There is a handrail leading up to the top of the village, which helps, and comfortable shoes are a must. Be mindful of the well-worn limestone stones that make up the side of the pathway: they are like marble and become slippery in damp or rainy weather - the walk down can then be a little difficult.

Ancient remains have been found in and around Eze that tell of early Celto-ligurian and Phoenician settlements. Later, it was to the turn of the Romans.  A notable artefact of their presence can be found at La Turbie (just 5 km from Eze) with the amazing white stone commemorative monument known as the “Trophée des Alpes”, erected in 5 BC in honour of the Roman Emperor Augustus, conqueror of the peoples of the Alps. It is the only structure of its type still in existence and, even today, remains a symbol to the dominating power of the Romans along the Côte d’Azur.

In 578 it was the turn of the Lombards to settle on this very picturesque and privileged site. Then, after the village became established in the 10th century, Eze was occupied by Moorish pirates who, for more than 80 years, demanded ransoms and confiscated a proportion of the harvests.

During the Middle Ages, in 1388, Eze fell into the hands of the Italian Counts of Savoy, whose capital, Turin, was protected from French invasions by the Alps. The Counts of Savoy, fully aware of the strategic importance of this coastline, improved the defences of Eze and protected its entrance by fortified double doors called “La Poterne”.

Despite these efforts, the village was occupied in 1543 by the Turks of Soliman the Magnificent allied with King François I, in his war against Charles Quint and the House of Savoy. In 1592, Antoine Valperga was established as Count of Savoy and in 1611 sold the kingdom of Eze to Senator César Cortina Saint-Martin, whose descendents remained as Counts of Eze until the French Revolution (1789-1799).

But perhaps the cruellest blow was dealt to Eze in 1706: during the Spanish War of Succession, Louis 14th ordered the complete destruction of the fortifications and castle of Eze along with the castle of Nice and the Trophée des Alpes in La Turbie, in order to rid the towns of their military importance.

Eze is perched like an “eagle's nest” on a superb cliff located 427m above sea level which enables the village and its light ochre church (Notre Dame de l’Assomption built in 1764) to be seen from afar. Inside the church, an Egyptian cross acts as a reminder that the roots of the village dates back to the time of the Phoenicians, when they erected a temple there to honour the goddess Isis.

The oldest building in the village is the Chapelle de la Sainte Croix and dates back to 1306. Members of the lay order of the White Penitents of Eze, in charge of giving assistance to plague victims, would hold their meetings there. The shape of the bell-turret is an indication that the village once belonged to Provence.

It was in this very chapel that the people of Eze voted unanimously to be attached to France. Eze finally became part of France in 1860. The vote for its annexation took place on 15th and 16th April 1860 in the Chapel of the White Penitents. Out of 171 registered voters, there were 133 voters and 133 ballot papers marked “yes”.

Today, the “Postern” with its guardroom, now turned into a tiny boutique selling beautiful olive wood tableware and ornaments, remains one of its most remarkable relics and has been preserved for centuries.

Once through the “Postern” you’ll discover a small Provençal village with a series of narrow streets, pretty archways and superbly restored stone houses. Shady squares, trompe l’oeil paintings and ancient fountains lend further charm. Huge stoneware tubs, window boxes and a variety of climbing plants such as jasmine, bougainvillea and plumbago add a bright splash of colour while panoramic views of the sea and coastline combine to make Eze a truly remarkable site.

Among all the houses in the village, the residence of the Riquier family stands out from the others with its door decorated in low relief. The Riquier family originated from Nice and are among the first known aristocrats to live in Eze; the village was their oldest fief outside Nice. Their sovereignty lasted from the 13th century right up to the 16th century.

During the 17th and the 18th centuries, the house was occupied by the Fighiera family and later abandoned. The residence was bought in 1920 by Samuel Lathan Barlow, an American composer, who set about its restoration with the aid of Jan Juta (who also participated in the decoration of cruise liner The Queen Mary). The wrought iron and the front door are made from fragments of 15th and 16th century furniture.

In 1930, Barlow instigated the installation (at his own expense) of the current Italian fountain in place de Planet. It became the first running water for the inhabitants of the village. The water was drawn from the Channel of the lower Corniche in Eze seaside and pumped up to the village.

Amazingly, it wasn’t until a few years after the Second World War, in 1952, that running water was finally installed for all the inhabitants of the village. Prior to that, Eze had no proper water supply: it was either collected in one of the two cisterns in the village or taken from a fountain located at the bottom of the village and brought up by water bearers or donkeys. As a by-line, it is interesting to note that Samual Barlow actually had his own private supply installed in 1924. Zatlo Balakovic (Yugoslav violinist) and his Highness William of Sweden waited a further five years before the municipality permitted the installation of water pipes to their homes.

The numerous small arts and crafts boutiques are hard to resist; some are like tiny caves dug out of the rocky hill-side. The streets of this medieval village have witnessed its historic past. The two look-out towers at the entrance, the door-way and the gun-boat are all classified as historic monuments.

Eze is also renowned for two very beautiful hotel / restaurants: Château Eza and Château de la Chèvre d’Or. The very beautiful Château Eza (built in 1920) is situated at the very top of the village and was once part of a group of dwellings chosen by Prince William of Sweden, the eldest son of King Gustav V of Sweden, as winter residences. Between 1923 and 1953 the royal family spent numerous holidays there. Until 1976, it was known as the “Prince of Sweden Castle”.

In 1977, André Rochat (culinary pioneer and proprietor of Savoy French Bakery and Andre’s French Restaurant in Las Vegas) discovered Eze village. His first wish was to restore the original appearance of the castle but noticing the growing interest of tourists for Eze, couldn’t resist the temptation of creating a tea-room there. After his initial success it became a restaurant and finally a hotel. Rochat owned the Château from 1976 until the end of 1993; today it is a 4-star hotel and belongs to The Stein Group.

During the reconstruction phase of the Château, building materials had to be brought up the steep winding streets by donkeys which are still present to greet guests. Every Sunday the hotel’s two pet donkeys can be found at the entrance of the village sleepily resting in stables, which were formerly the luggage hold for the hotel.

Even today, all deliveries are brought up to the shops, cafés and restaurants on foot as the whole village is completely pedestrian. Rather than donkeys, “diables” (2-wheel hand-pushed trucks) are used instead - no mean feat on hot summer days.

Château de la Chèvre d’Or, another renowned restaurant and four-star hotel (and two-star Michelin restaurant achieved in 2000), was so named by Zatlo Balokovic. Balokovic lived in Great Britain from 1920 to 1923 and in 1926 married Joyce Barden, the grand-daughter of Adlai Stevenson, vice president of the United-States and that year bought a house in Eze-Village.

The Château was later transformed into a hotel but had very few rooms. It was bought by its present owners in the late eighties and turned into the luxurious hotel it is today. The problem of bedrooms was quickly solved when they bought several village houses and converted them into bedrooms and junior suites. At one time, it was not rare to see the Prince and the Princess of Monaco at the restaurant or even staying overnight; President Clinton made an impromptu visit there in October 2002 as have other remarkable and famous people. It is now owned by the prestigious Relais & Châteaux group and has 33 bedrooms and junior suites. It too has panoramic views across the Mediterranean; its plate glass windows give a 270° viesta across the Mediterranean from Monte Carlo in the East to St. Tropez in the West.

At the very top of the village, you’ll find the quite remarkable exotic botanical garden created in 1949 by Jean Gastaud and inaugurated the 25th March 1950. Here you’ll find an impressive collection of cacti and rare plants (many from South America). The garden surrounds the remains of an ancient, near circular, fortress and dismantled upon the orders of Louis 14th in 1706 (click here to read more about this charming garden).

From the village, you can also visit “Eze Bord-de-Mer” by taking the Friedrich-Nietzsche path (at the end of the avenue du Jardin Exotique) located just at the entrance of the village and next to the Chèvre d’Or’s valet parking. It was during his second stay on the Côte d’Azur (December 1884 - April 1885 that Frédéric Nietzsche discovered the village which later inspired him to compose the last part of his work “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”; this scenic walk takes approximately an hour and a half; the descent is only 45 minutes. This walk requires stout walking shoes as the path is quite stony and in poor condition so we suggest prudence if you decide to venture down this route.

The Grande Corniche concludes the panorama on the Northern side of Eze village although you may also be fascinated by the strange gothic building slightly to the left of Eze village. This is Chateau dl l'Aiguetta and was built for Alfred Tennyson, one of the most well known of English poets, in 1882. In 1901 it was further enlarged and modified to look similar to a gothic style Chateau. It is said to have possibly inspired Walt Disney for the castle in his animated film "Sleeping Beauty" following one of his stays in Eze.

The oldest traces of settlers on the land of Eze are found in these parts. They go back to the Iron Age, towards 220 BC. The remains of an old castelleras, a fortified rampart which protected dwellings, were discovered there.

The profile of Fort Revère, built between 1879 and 1885, can also be distinguished. It belongs to the Séré de Rivières fortification system, an ancestor of the Maginot Line.

The Maginot Line was built between 1929 and 1940 to protect France from her long-time enemy, Germany, and to defend the traditional invasion routes across her eastern frontier. The Maginot Line was a powerful line of defence which stretched from Switzerland to the Ardennes in the North, and from the Alps to the Mediterranean in the South. It was a vast, dynamic, and considered “state-of-the-art” defensive system.

Most of its components were underground, with interconnecting tunnels stretching for kilometres, and where, beneath the earth, thousands of men slept, trained, watched, and waited for a war that never came. In the 1970s, many of the Maginot Line forts were auctioned off to the public. Some were used for mushroom farming, a handful opened for tourists, and the rest lapsed into decay and disappeared into the French countryside.

During WWII, Fort Revère was used as a camp for Allied prisoners, primarily English pilots. In 1942, there were two spectacular escapes. The first one was carefully prepared by the Pat O'Leary network and the army chaplain, who photographed prisoners and made false IDs. The plan was fairly straight forward: gain access to the infirmary by a toilet pipe, saw off the window bars above the moat and go down a rope. Thanks to outside complicities, five pilots escaped and managed to reach England. The other five were caught in Nice and Monaco.

The second escape was more audacious. For 6 weeks, prisoners dug a 30 metre tunnel and then, during the night of 23rd and 24th August, 66 pilots crawled through it. The alert was given as the 67th prisoner entered the tunnel. Thanks to the F2 and Libé-Sud network (dynamic French resistance groups) 31 pilots returned to their home country.

Another fort, built in 1878 and called La Drète, is still located on the Grande Corniche and now shelters a centre for astronomical observations while next to it is a training centre for guide dogs – noticable by its yellow roofs.

The Tourist Office is located at the base of Eze village. Pop in prior to visiting the village as they have a detailed map that will help you find all the different historic sites you should see as you make your way up to the botanical garden.

For those of you unable to negotiate the steep climb, you’ll find a number of pretty artisanal boutiques at the bottom of Eze village. Both Galimard and Fragonard have lovely shops selling a gorgeous selection of their soaps and perfumes, while there are a couple of nice and very reasonably priced restaurants and cafés where you can while away the time - until your family or friends descend.

Lastly, July and August can be particularly difficultl for parking. If you have family or visitors who want to see Eze – you may want to “drop off & pick up” rather than queue for hours under a hot mediterranean sun . . .