The site of what is now Villefranche and surrounding
Beaulieu-sur-Mer and
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat has been settled since prehistoric times.
Celto-ligurian tribes roamed the area and established farming communities on the surrounding hills. The
Greeks and later the
Romans used the natural harbour as a stop-over en route to the Greek settlements around the Western
Mediterranean. After the conquest of
Gaul by
Julius Caesar, the Romans built an extension of the
Via Aurelia (Aurelian Way), which passed through the settlement of Montolivo. By the fall of the
Carolingian Empire, the area was part of
Lotharingia and later part of the County of
Provence. In 1295,
Charles II,
Duke of Anjou, then Count of Provence, enticed the inhabitants of Montolivo and surroundings to settle closer to the coastline in order to secure the area from
pirates. By charter, he established Villefranche as a "free port",
thus the name, granting tax privileges and port fee rights that lasted well into the 18th century. By 1388, East
Provence became part of the
Duchy of Savoy as a result of the disputed succession to the heirless Queen
Joan I of Naples. For the next 400 years, the area known as the
County of Nice was hotly disputed between the
Holy Roman Empire to which
Savoy was an ally and the French. In 1543, the
Franco-Turkish armies sacked and occupied the city after the siege of Nice, prompting Duke
Emmanuel Philibert to secure the site by building an impressive
citadel and a fort on nearby Mont Alban. In the late 17th century, the area fell to the French but was returned to Savoy after the
Peace of Utrecht. During the 18th century, the city lost some of its maritime importance to the new harbour being built in Nice but remained a military and naval base. In 1744, a Franco-
Spanish army under the
Prince of Conti overran the
Piedmontese regiments of
Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia at the
Fort of Mont Alban in the heights above the town. In 1793, the French returned to re-occupy Villefranche and the county of Nice remained part of the
Napoleonic Empire until 1814. It was returned to the
Kingdom of Sardinia by the
Congress of Vienna. In 1860, as a consequence of the
Risorgimento, it was given to France by treaty following a
plebiscite. By the late 19th century, it had become an important
Imperial Russian Navy base and the
Russians established an
oceanographic laboratory in the old
lazaret. Since the 1980s Villefranche has been used by
cruise ships. It is the most visited cruise ship port of call in France. ==Population==