Bézaudun-les-Alpes is not reached by chance. Built on a promontory 880 meters above sea level, this village of 280 inhabitants overlooks the road leading to the Estéron valley or Coursegoules... and you have to look up to see it. A discreet village, then, with an undeniable cachet. Built in the heart of the ramparts, remnants of which remain, it is dominated by the tower of the ancient castle and the church, topped by its bell tower with campanile. Old ochre stone houses stand on a steep slope. Between them, cobbled lanes, vaulted passageways, ornate staircases, engraved lintels, a restored washhouse, a fountain, above which you'll discover a pretty mosaic map of the village, and, from the orientation table, a panoramic view. The landscape is rugged, wild and virtually uninhabited. To the north, the Mercantour peaks; to the west, the Cheiron massif; to the east, the Chiers mountains and the Mouton d'Anou; to the south, the Baou de Saint-Jeannet; and just behind, the misty blue of the Mediterranean, a reminder that we are in the Préalpes d'Azur, and that the sea is not far away. An easy 6.5 km hike will take you to the summit of Mouton d'Anou to enjoy this remarkable view. At the bottom of the village runs the Bouyon river, which flows into the Estéron shortly afterwards. A little history. There are several remains of ancient settlements in the commune: fragments of tegulae (ancient Roman tiles), the remains of a dry-stone fortification that could date from the late Middle Ages, and, near the Notre-Dame du Peuple chapel, the remains of a dry-stone settlement that could be the site of the ancient village. In the 11th century, the territory of Bézaudun depended on the Château de Majone in Gréolières. It wasn't until the 12th century that the name Besaldu first appeared, followed by Castrum de Bazaudino. Bézaudun became a fiefdom in the 13th century, with the construction of the castle between 1224 and 1231. After battles between the local nobility, the building came back into the hands of Romée de Villeneuve, who gave it, in exchange for part of Coursegoules, to the bishops of Vence in 1233. The château and the fiefdom of Bézaudun remained their property until the French Revolution.
