Vence

Vence
View of Vence. In the background, the Mediterranean Sea.
Vence
Location within Provence-A.-C.d'A. region  Vence
Administration
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Alpes-Maritimes
Arrondissement	Grasse
Canton	Vence
Intercommunality	Nice-Côte d'Azur
Mayor	Christian Iacono (PR) (2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation	40–1,033 m (130–3,389 ft) (avg. 325 m or 1,066 ft)
Land area1	39,230 km2 (15,150 sq mi)
Population2	19,247  (2008)
- Density	0 /km2 (0 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	06157/ 06140
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Vence is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France between Nice and Antibes.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	2,615	—
1800	2,657	+1.6%
1806	3,020	+13.7%
1821	3,045	+0.8%
1831	3,612	+18.6%
1836	3,156	−12.6%
1841	3,165	+0.3%
1846	3,101	−2.0%
1851	2,974	−4.1%
1856	2,733	−8.1%
1861	2,710	−0.8%
1866	2,755	+1.7%
1872	2,828	+2.6%
1876	2,770	−2.1%
1881	2,761	−0.3%
1886	2,903	+5.1%
1891	3,103	+6.9%
1896	3,043	−1.9%
1901	3,124	+2.7%
1906	3,208	+2.7%
1911	3,498	+9.0%
1921	3,090	−11.7%
1926	4,192	+35.7%
1931	4,876	+16.3%
1936	5,495	+12.7%
1946	5,685	+3.5%
1954	6,278	+10.4%
1962	7,874	+25.4%
1968	9,420	+19.6%
1975	11,385	+20.9%
1982	13,119	+15.2%
1990	15,330	+16.9%
1999	16,982	+10.8%
2008	19,247	+13.3%

Sights

Within the historic village, a medieval walled village, there are numerous interesting sights and monuments. The Peyra Gate was remodelled in 1810. The fountain was rebuilt in 1822 replacing an older one dating from 1578. Nearby is an oak, donated by François I and planted in 1538. The castle is today the Fondation Émile Hugues, a modern and contemporary art museum. The cathedral was built in the 4th century on the site of a Roman temple. The stone of the western façade dates from 239. Another, on the right, was engraved in December 220. Other stones in the external walls represent funerary dedications. Also on the western side of the church, the Pierre du Tauroble evokes the cult of Cybele and also the Great mother of the Gods of Mount Ida. A chapel in the cathedral has a mosaic by Marc Chagall, dated 1911. The rue des Portiques is a section of the old Roman road.

The town has a small chapel, up above the Cité Historique Chapelle du Rosaire (1948, completed in 1951), decorated with stained glass and other fittings by Henri Matisse.

Vence is famous for its spring water, which can be collected from numerous fountains in the town.

International relations

Vence is twinned with the market town of Stamford, Lincolnshire.

Personalities

• D.H. Lawrence (1885–1930), writer
• James Baldwin (writer) died in the near-by St Paul de Vence
• Maurice Boitel (1919–2007), artist
• Henri Calet (1904–1956), writer
• Marc Chagall, artist
• Edward Gordon Craig (1872–1966), theatre practitioner, actor, producer, director and scenic designer died here
• Émile Delavenay (1901–2003), anglicist
• Raoul Dufy, artist
• Célestin Freinet, French educator, who established his school in Vence
• Witold Gombrowicz (1904–1969), writer, died in his home here
• Mihály Károlyi (1875–1955), Hungarian leader
• Henri Matisse (1869–1954), artist
• Jacques (artist) and Gwen Raverat (artist and writer)
• Ida Rubinstein, ballerina
• Émile Hugues (1901-1966), politician, was born in Vence. The art museum is named after him.
• Jacques Morali (1947-1991), Disco music author (Village People, YMCA), born in Paris and buried in Vence.

Ecclesiastical history

The first known Bishop of Vence is Severus, bishop in 439 and perhaps as early as 419.

Among others are: St. Veranus, son of St. Eucherius, Archbishop of Lyon and a monk of Lérins, bishop before 451 and at least until 465; St. Lambert, first a Benedictine monk (died 1154); Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (1505–11).

Antoine Godeau, Bishop of Grasse, was named Bishop of Vence in 1638; the Holy See wished to unite the two dioceses. Meeting with opposition from the chapter and the clergy of Vence Godeau left Grasse in 1653, to remain Bishop of Vence, which see he held until 1672.

The diocese of Nice now unites the three former Dioceses of Nice, Grasse and Vence.

A pizzeria operated from the back of a van in the centre of Vence.

Education

Nursery schools

• École Maternelle lei bigaradie
• École Maternelle du Signadour
• École Maternelle de l'ouest

Primary schools

• École primaire du Suve
• École primaire Saint-Michel
• École primaire Toreille
• École primaire Chagall
• École Célestin Freinet

Grammar school

• Collège La Sine

High school

• Lycée Henri Matisse.

See also

• Vence Cathedral
• Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department

References

• INSEE
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

External links

• Pictures of Vence Cathedral: [1], [2]
• French language Wikipedia Article about Henri Calet
• French language Wikipedia Article about Émile Delavenay