TOP 5 MUST-SEE GUIDED TOURS OF ANTIBES

TOUR OF THE ANCIENT WALLED TOWN OF ANTIBES/ANTIPOLIS

Antibes was founded at the same time as Marseille, in the 6th century BCE, by the Greeks from Asia Minor, the Phocaeans. Today, the areas that the Greeks occupied, correspond to the current sites of Sainte-Marie Cathedral, Cours Masséna and Rue de la République.

The Romans arrived in the town around 150 BC: they had been called in by the inhabitants, who were being threatened by the Oxybians, a Celtic tribe. The Romans built a temple dedicated to Minerva and two aqueducts to supply the town with drinking water: the Fontvieille aqueduct, which took water from Biot, and the Bouillide aqueduct, which brought water from Valbonne via Vallauris. The Antibes Archaeology Museum conserves the treasures of the town’s rich ancient past.

Your guides from Tour Guides France will take you back in time. Follow them to learn more about the ancient history of Antibes.

VISIT TO OLD-ANTIBES

Old Antibes is the oldest part of the town dating from the Middle Ages which continued to be occupied through to the modern era. It was surrounded by ramparts some of which still stand today on the sea front and at Vauban port.

In the 5th century, the town became the seat of a bishopric and remained so until 1244, when this was transferred to Grasse. In place of the temple of Minerva, the inhabitants built a cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

In the Middle Ages, Antibes became a seigneury of the County of Provence, administered by the bishops and the Grimaldi family.

Tour Guides France offer a guided tour of the old town centre to discover the secrets of Old Antibes.

CULTURAL TOUR OF ANTIBES: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF PABLO PICASSO!

In 1946, an illustrious Spanish painter, whose had established his reputation with ‘Guernica,’ moved into the second floor of the Château Grimaldi. Pablo Picasso spent two years in the town alongside Jacqueline Roque, and painted ‘Ulysses and the Sirens‘ and ‘The Woman with Sea Urchins.’ This last work echoes the time the artist spent in Golfe Juan, after work or during his lunch break: Picasso bought and ate sea urchins with the many acquaintances he made in the town and the surrounding area. He met Mr and Mrs Ramiés who ran a ceramics business.

In 1948, the painter moved to Vallauris. The studio he occupied on the second floor of the Château Grimaldi in Antibes was transformed into a museum: there you will find works painted by the artist as well as ceramic objects decorated by him.

JUAN LES PINS: VISIT ‘MODERN-DAY ANTIBES’

Antibes underwent a major transformation at the end of the 19th century with the arrival of the railway: the town spilled out of its ramparts, which were partly destroyed.

The fortifications, which had been built in the time of the kings, as a defensive barrier against the Spaniards and Austrians, lost their usefulness when the county of Nice became French in 1860 and the town of Antibes became part of the newly formed administrative department of Alpes-Maritimes.

New districts were created as a result of residential and tourist growth in the town: it was in this context that Juan les Pins was built in 1882. Its development was driven, among other things, by the arrival of illustrious figures such as the author Guy de Maupassant and a new clientele from the United States of America.