Travel Guide Le Rouret

The village of Le Rouret is on the road from Nice to Grasse. Its geographical location, at the gateway to the Sophia Antipolis catchment area, has contributed to its development. 4000 people live here. The village is sheltered by the mountains of the hinterland. It therefore benefits from a special microclimate that has enabled the cultivation of perfume plants. Although the cultivation of jasmine, roses, orange trees and violets is no longer in vogue today, Le Rouret has managed to preserve a Provencal lifestyle that makes it a village where life is good. The commune has managed its urban development while preserving its natural spaces. The landscape rolls down to the sea in hills planted with cypress, cork oak and olive trees. Dry-stone terraces bear witness to the region's agricultural past. The communal wood, which stretches across the heights of Le Rouret, offers walkers a beautiful nature break. The village is arranged around its magnificent Provencal square, planted with century-old plane trees and bordered by the town hall, Saint-Pons church and a number of old buildings that have seen generations of villagers pass through their doors... Everything here evokes calm and serenity. A bit of history. The site has been inhabited since the end of the Bronze Age, a period that saw men gather in small communities in the hills, attracted by the mildness of the surroundings, the presence of water and sometimes caves. Later, it was the Romans who established oppida or "camps" on the heights. The 9th century saw the construction of a castle at the top of the wood, but it was destroyed in 1229. The community did not survive the crises of the 14th century - plague, war and famine - and disappeared. It wasn't until the French Revolution that the last local lord, Joseph Louis Geoffroy du Rouret, took up residence. At that time, the population consisted mainly of farmers scattered over the hills. Waterworks attracted new inhabitants. In the early 19th century, wheat, vines, olives and lavender were cultivated, followed by perfume plants such as jasmine and roses. The end of the Great War and the Roaring Twenties saw the appearance of villas on the hills. Tourism benefited the commune, which saw its population grow. However, the Second World War brought this development to a halt. It wasn't until the 1960s that Le Rouret once again benefited from the boom in tourism in the region.