Travel Guide St. Agnes

Sainte-Agnès is the highest perched coastal village in Europe (760 metres above sea level, after all!). From Menton, take the D22, a narrow and winding road. If you don't have your own vehicle, be aware that the village is served several times a day by bus lines from the bus station in Menton. At the foot of a cliff which protects it from the strong winds and the setting sun tinged with pink, this village stretches along a main street paved with pebbles and in which many medieval alleys branch off. At its end, a belvedere offers a magnificent view of Italy and the sea. The village was once surmounted by a large fortified castle dating from the 12th century which was destroyed on the orders of Louis XIV like all those in this region as the Sun King feared the counter-power of the greats. The church Notre-Dame-des-Neiges dating from the 17th century contains a recently renovated gilded wooden tabernacle, paintings and baptismal fonts with double basins from the period.