Villeneuve-Loubet

Villeneuve-Loubet
Villeneuve-Loubet
Administration
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Alpes-Maritimes
Arrondissement	Grasse
Canton	Cagnes-sur-Mer Ouest
Intercommunality	Sophia Antipolis
Mayor	Richard Camou (2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation	0–213 m (0–699 ft)
Land area1	19.60 km2 (7.57 sq mi)
Population2	14,427  (2008)
- Density	736 /km2 (1,910 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	06161/ 06270
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.

Villeneuve-Loubet (pronounced: [vilnœv lube] is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.

It lies between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Antibes, at the mouth of the Loup River.

It was created by the joining two old villages: the old village of Villeneuve inland and the village of Loubet on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Its inhabitants are called Villeneuvois.

Economy

It is at the same time a seaside resort and part of the technopole of Sophia Antipolis, many companies of the tertiary sector being installed in the city.

Culture

Villeneuve-Loubet is the birthplace of the famous 19th century provençal chef, restaurateur, and culinary writer Auguste Escoffier, the author of the Guide Culinaire and the founder of French haute cuisine. Villeneuve-Loubet was also, from 1920 onwards, the home of Maréchal Philippe Pétain (1856–1951), the "Hero of Verdun" in World War I and chief of state of the Nazi-collaborationist État Français, commonly known as Vichy, in World War II. Pétain was sentenced to death for treason in 1945; this was commuted to life in prison by Charles de Gaulle and he died a prisoner at Fort de la Pierre-Levée on the Ile d'Yeu in 1951 at the age of 95.

Villeneuve-Loubet was also the site of a battle in World War 2 when it was liberated by the First Special Service Force on August 26, 1944. The tower of the castle was damaged by a shell fired by the US Navy, and dozens of soldiers from both sides were killed or wounded. Surprisingly, in 2006, the bodies of fourteen Germans killed during the fighting were discovered in a mass grave near the town by a local medical student, and exhumed.

Population

Historical population of Villeneuve-Loubet

Year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2008
Population	2769	3865	6001	8083	11,539	12,935	14,427

Twin cities

• Forlimpopoli, Italy

See also

• Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department

References

• INSEE