The world, one said, is a thought of God. When he created Roquebrune Cap Martin, the almighty must have been in a good mood.
-Louis Nucera

Roquebrune Cap Martin has for centuries been a desirable destination attracting many crowned heads and artists, ambassadors of a lifestyle which combines recreation and relaxation.

Set between Monaco and Menton at the foot of the Alps and covering 9.33km2 from down at sea level up to 800m, the commune of Roquebrune Cap Martin has a population of 11 692 and is divided in to 5 distinct areas, comprising several villages and towns; St Roman, practically a suburb of Monaco is home to the chic Monte-Carlo Beach Club hotel and the Country Club which hosts the annual International Tennis Masters Tournament; the residential areas of Cabbé, Bon Voyage and Serret with villas and apartments enjoying uninterrupted views of the sea, thanks to the steep hillside on which they are perched. Roquebrune Cap Martin's small provincial train station is housed in the Cabbé district just a few steps from two of the areas most beautiful beaches. It is also right next door what was the charming hotel Diodato, named by the Russian aristocrat who acquired the palace as a holiday retreat in the nineteenth century, and now being converted in to luxury apartments; the mediaeval village of Roquebrune, precariously perched higher up on a rocky outcrop dominated by its tenth century château; the stylish Cap Martin peninsula with its magnificent Belle Epoque villas and parks and finally the seaside resort of Carnolès with its long pebbly beach bordering that of Menton.

In early records Roquebrune was known as Rocabruna by its residents under the Counts of Ventimiglia, who built the château to counter threats from the Saracens. Over the centuries it has withstood many sieges and been restored several times; in the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries and again more recently in the nineteenth century, when it was purchased by Sir William Ingram in 1911, who added the mock mediaeval tour anglaise by the gate and who subsequently donated it to the town in 1921. Disputed for many years between the Counts of Genova and Provence it finally came under the rule of the Grimaldis in the fourteenth century, after Charles Grimaldi obtained control from the Count of Genova in 1355 and then declared possession for himself. Although the Duchy of Savoy had sovereign authority of the region from 1448, Roquebrune remained with the Grimaldis for the next five centuries returning to France from 1793 to 1814 during which time Napoleon built a road along the coastline connecting the village to the coast, thus leading to its eventual merger with Cap Martin. Returning to Monegasque rule in 1814 Roquebrune finally became a free city, along with Menton, after the revolution in 1848. During a spell of political limbo it had hoped to be annexed to Sardinia, but in 1860 both Menton and Roquebrune were ceded to France by a plebiscite.

In the 1890s a pair of Empresses, Eugénie of France (widow of Napoleon III) and Elizabeth 'Sissi' of Austria made Cap Martin an aristocratic enclave. Danish architect Hans Georg Tersling built the Grand Hotel du Cap and sumptuous villas nearby, ordered by aristocrats drawn to the area largely thanks to the influences of the Empresses. Empress Eugénie herself commissioned the beautiful Villa Cyrnos, staying at the Grand Hotel during its construction. King Edward VII and Winston Churchill were also frequent visitors of the peninsula. Churchill enjoyed his time there to relax and paint. Yeats, Sacha Guitry, Coco Chanel, Jacques Brel are among other familiar names to have graced the shores with their presence. Le Corbusier built a daring minimalist villa, ironically named 'Château' and described as a machine à habiter, along the Chemin des Douaniers just a stone's throw away from the sublime and luxurious Belle Epoque palaces of the previous century.

Today, although having no major centre of its own, Roquebrune Cap Martin benefits from its geographical position sandwiched between the Principality of Monaco and the popular seaside resort of Menton. With its easy transport links, beautiful residential neighbourhoods and lower property taxes Roquebrune remains a very popular destination for second home buyers offering properties at the extreme ends of the scale from modest studio apartments to extravagant Belle Epoque villas with 8 figure price tags!