Roure: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

The houses of Roure form a continuous row of houses on the mountain. Living spaces and rooms used for agricultural purposes are arranged across four or five levels – a defining feature of the local building style.

Building Culture and Local History

Traditional buildings use walls made of red Permian pelite stones bonded with lime. Local stone slabs were preferred for the roofs, while larch shingles became less common. The architectural heritage also includes the Fontaine-Lavoir of Roure, with three stone vaults built with lime and a terrace above for hanging laundry.

The Lavoir of Roure was built in 1888 as part of hygiene measures to prevent epidemics. The Chapelle Saint-Sébastien-et-Saint-Bernard was probably built in 1481 as a chapel for protection against the plague; visitors can borrow the key.

The Church of Saint-Laurent in Roure houses works of art associated with the style of the “Primitifs niçois” or, respectively, the “Primitifs des Alpes méridionales”. The remains of the former “machine infernale” have also been preserved, a system of pillars and a cable used to transport goods and mail down or up.

Those choosing Roure as a travel destination may wish to rent a holiday apartment.

Nature

The Marcel Kroenlein Arboretum is open year-round, with or without a reservation. Guided tours and seasonal workshops are offered upon reservation by telephone or electronically. The protected caudate amphibian Speleomantes strinatii is also found in cracks in the walls near the lavoirs of Roure; it is usually only visible at night.

Trails and Landscape

The hamlet of Valabre lies at an altitude of 1,230 metres on the northern slope of the Tinée Valley. The former, largely self-sufficient settlement had communal facilities such as a school, church, mill, bread oven and cemetery.

The Circuit de Roure leads to the village of Roure and onwards to the Belvédère du Castel at an altitude of 1,104 metres. The GR 5 crosses the municipality of Roure at the Plateau de Longon. This high-altitude route, divided into numerous stages, connects the North Sea with the Mediterranean near Nice over more than 2,200 kilometres; there is a mountain refuge at the Plateau de Longon.

Encounters

The pilgrimage to Sainte-Anne near Tiecs takes place at the end of July. It is accompanied by a communal picnic under chestnut trees and has been considered an important part of village social life for centuries.

The communal bread oven of Roure is now in operation every weekend. The Refuge de Longon offers local products as well as high-quality cuisine in the style of Nice cuisine.

Other destinations: Cuébris, Gorbio, Vallauris, L'escarène, Péone, Aspremont, Magagnosc, Valderoure

For the higher-level travel overview: Alpes-Maritimes.