Fontana Rosa
Fontana Rosa is a historic garden in Menton, France, shaped by Spanish writer and politician Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. Its terraces combine Andalusian and Arab-Persian influences. Ceramic benches, fountains, ponds, pergolas, and a sea-facing gazebo create patios recalling Valencia and southern Spain.
Blasco Ibáñez began building the garden in 1922 after buying the property, where he lived with Elena. He spent his final years there and died in 1928. The entrance presents busts of Cervantes, Dickens, Shakespeare, and Honoré de Balzac, while fountains honour admired writers. The elevated villa contains a library and personal cinema room, and Villa Emilia dates from the nineteenth century.
After wartime looting and more than thirty years of abandonment, Menton received the garden from his son in 1970. Restoration began in 1985 and reached the pottery in 1991. Historical Monument status dates from 1990, while the grounds preserve palms, banana trees, roses, and trees from distant regions.
- City
- Menton
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Take this page with you
The myTuur app is free, and once you are standing at a spot its story starts by itself.
Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Menton. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.
What is myTuur?
myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.