Gourdon: The Eagle's Nest Above the Gorges du Loup
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
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Eagle's Nest
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200
XP
+100 France
= 300 total
1 day
Gourdon: The Eagle's Nest Above the Gorges du Loup
200 + 100 XP
Gourdon is perched on a sheer peak at 760 metres, looking down on the valley and gorges of the Loup, which is why it is called the Eagle's Nest; it is one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, in the Préalpes d'Azur regional park. The place is first recorded in 1035 as Gordone. The counts of Provence built a stronghold here in the 12th century on the footings of a 9th-century fortress and held it until 3 April 1235, when the lordship went to the Grasse family, lords of Bar, then by marriage to the Villeneuve and in 1550 to the Borriglione d'Aspremont; in 1598 the Aspremont sold it to Louis Lombard of Grasse for 12,000 écus, and he demolished the old castle and began the present one in 1610. Opened to visitors in 1950, the castle has been closed to the public since 2011 and entirely private since 2015. Some historians think the peak held only the castle, and that the first village stood two kilometres away by the chapel of Saint-Vincent, where there are still ruins. The remains of a Roman camp with a double wall and an oppidum have been found here too, and heavy ramparts still guard the north side.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Find the terrace beside the church that carries Queen Victoria's name — she came up here on 19 April 1891 — and from its parapet trace the line of the coast and then the gorge of the Loup directly below your feet
2
of 5
Walk right round the outside of the castle, which is private and cannot be entered: on the village square, the north façade in grey dressed stone with its Renaissance doorway and its single big mullioned window; on the west side, the arrow slits, the toad-headed gargoyles about 40 cm long above the old windows, and the armorial stone on the second storey carrying the Lombard arms, a golden door with three sempervives
3
of 5
Walk the north side of the village and work out what the heavy rampart is watching: it faces the Pré-du-Lac to Gréolières road, the only approach along the ridge. Find the three round towers left from the 9th-century fortress at the angles, and the gap where the Romanesque village gate stood until it was pulled down in the early 20th century
4
of 5
Drive or cycle down into the gorges du Loup on the road that was cut into the cliff below the village, where a rockfall killed seventeen men during its construction on 22 November 1907, and stop at the point where you can look back up and find Gourdon on its peak
5
of 5
Walk the two kilometres out to the chapel of Saint-Vincent, built in the 11th and 12th centuries, and find the ruins around it that some historians read as the real first village — then on the way back in, drink at the fountain of 1852, paid for by the 20,000 francs Jean-Louis Cavalier left the village in his will of 18 July 1847
Find the terrace beside the church that carries Queen Victoria's name — she came up here on 19 April 1891 — and from its parapet trace the line of the coast and then the gorge of the Loup directly below your feet
Walk right round the outside of the castle, which is private and cannot be entered: on the village square, the north façade in grey dressed stone with its Renaissance doorway and its single big mullioned window; on the west side, the arrow slits, the toad-headed gargoyles about 40 cm long above the old windows, and the armorial stone on the second storey carrying the Lombard arms, a golden door with three sempervives
Walk the north side of the village and work out what the heavy rampart is watching: it faces the Pré-du-Lac to Gréolières road, the only approach along the ridge. Find the three round towers left from the 9th-century fortress at the angles, and the gap where the Romanesque village gate stood until it was pulled down in the early 20th century
Drive or cycle down into the gorges du Loup on the road that was cut into the cliff below the village, where a rockfall killed seventeen men during its construction on 22 November 1907, and stop at the point where you can look back up and find Gourdon on its peak
Walk the two kilometres out to the chapel of Saint-Vincent, built in the 11th and 12th centuries, and find the ruins around it that some historians read as the real first village — then on the way back in, drink at the fountain of 1852, paid for by the 20,000 francs Jean-Louis Cavalier left the village in his will of 18 July 1847
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
200 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
300 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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