1615 – La Turbie – vue general et le Mont Agel (alt 1110m)
This black & white unused postcard has a photograph identified as “1615 La Turbie, Vue general et le Mont Agel (alt 1110). The card was produced by La Cigogne, 15 Rue St.-Francçis-de-Paule, Nice. It was among several shared by K & J. La Turbie is located in the Alpes-Martimes department of southeastern France. It is difficult to tell the date when this photo may have been taken but since it is in black & white, it suggests it was before color pictures were mostly used for postcards or ca 1940s or even earlier.
During Roman times Augustus celebrated his victory over the Ligurian tribes by erecting the large monument seen at the upper right in the picture at La Turbie (the trophy). Visible in the left side background of the photo is Mont Agel on the border between France and Monaco. The title on the card says that the altitude is 1,110 m or 3,641 ft. Other articles give the height at the top as 1,148 m (3,766 ft). Today the Nice Air Base is located at the top. Mont Agel is also the site of the Monte Carlo Golf Club. The summer home of Prince Rainier III is high on the slopes of the mountain.
Automobile and bicycle races have been held in this mountainous area. The auto race from Marseilles to Nice in 1897 included a hill climb of 17 km or 10 miles from Nice to La Turbie. That race was won by André Michelin in a steam powered De Dion with the average speed of 31.8 km or 19.9 mph. That seems extremely slow to us today! After two deaths, one in 1900 and the one in 1903, the French Minister of the Interior issued an order to “stop the further use of the Nice-La Turbie course for automobiles.” From 1968 to 1995 almost the same route as the cars had raced more than 60 years earlier was used as the last stage of the Paris-Nice cyclist race. This is the same road where Princess Grace de Monaco was killed in a fatal accident in 1982.
Once again, thank you to K & J for sharing the card.
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