Fort de la Revère

Fort de la Revère owes its walls to the defeat of 1870. France built the fort between 1882 and 1885 to reinforce the region's defences and protect Nice. It stands nearly seven hundred metres above the sea, directly over the medieval village of Èze. The park around it, the Parc Départemental de la Grande Corniche, covers more than seven hundred hectares between La Turbie and Villefranche-sur-Mer. It is one of nineteen nature parks in the Alpes-Maritimes.

The fort itself keeps its doors closed, but the ground around it does most of the work. From the edge you look down on Èze and out over the Mediterranean, with the inland mountains behind you. An orientation table names the landmarks you can pick out. Benches and picnic tables wait under the trees, and discovery trails follow botanical, historical and geological threads through the park. A fitness trail crosses the grounds, and birdwatchers get an observation area of their own. The Maison de la Nature explains the local flora and fauna and sometimes holds temporary exhibitions on ecology and the Mediterranean environment. The Aven de Simbula drops sixty metres into the rock, a chasm that draws cavers. The fort also carries a harder memory: during the Second World War it served as an Allied prisoner camp.

Two footpaths link the medieval village to the fort, and the round trip takes about three hours on foot. Runners and mountain bikers share the trails with walkers. Nearby, the Plateau de la Justice opens onto the Mediterranean on one side and the Mercantour mountains on the other.