Beaulieu-sur-Mer is a seaside resort commune in the Alpes-Maritimes département on the French Riviera, located 6 miles (10 km) apart east from Nice and west from Monaco. It borders the communes of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Èze and Villefranche-sur-Mer.
History:
During the Antiquity this small Mediterranean seaport was a Greek settlement known as Anao, later occupied by the Romans. War left the village in ruins in the 3rd century. It was soon resettled and a monastery built that lasted until the 6th century when it was destroyed by the Lombards. The residents fled to the safety of surrounding hills at Montolivo ( today Plateau Saint-Michel) until they began returning to live by the seaside in the 13th Century (see also History of nearby Villefranche-sur-Mer.)
By the end of the 19th Century, as the Côte d'Azur developed into a world destination for the wealthy, a favorite residence for European royalty as well as the wealthy Americans like Isaac Singer and James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
Beaulieu-sur-Mer was established as a self-standing commune in 1891. It is the smallest in area of the Alpes-Maritimes département (230 acres or 92 ha.). A huge yacht harbour takes up most of the eastern seafront.
Places and monuments:
Villa Kerylos constructed at the beginning of century XX under an inclined rocky promontory for the sea, the Villa Kerylos is a constructed habitation following the model of villae of Old Greece. Property of a helenista Théodore Reinach, the Villa was bequeathed to the Institute of France in 1928. It is, currently, classified as historical monument.
Beaulieu-sur-Mer Today:
Today, Beaulieu-sur-Mer has a population of just under 4,000 and is a wealthy resort known for its quality marina facilities by those involved in yachting. It is also the site of the Grecian Villa Kerylos, constructed during the Belle Epoque between 1902 and 1908 by Théodore Reinach. Built on a sea-walled promontory of the bay, the Villa was gifted to the Institut de France on Reinach's death in 1928 and is now a museum open to the public, officially recognized as monument historique of France.
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