Bairols (; ) is a commune in the

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

department in the

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

region of south-eastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The commune has been awarded two flowers by the ''National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom'' in the ''Competition of cities and villages in Bloom''.

Geography

Bairols is located at an altitude of 830 metres on a rocky ridge some 20 km north of Gilette and 5 km north of

Villars-sur-Var Villars-sur-Var (, "Villars-on- Var"; ; Italian, formerly: ''Villar del Varo'') is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. History It was part of the historic County of N ...

. Access to the commune is by the M26 road from Tournefort in the south which passes through the south-eastern corner of the commune and connects with the tortuous M56 road which continues to the village. The commune is a rugged alpine commune.Google Maps
/ref> The

Tinée The Tinée (; ) is a river that flows through the Alpes-Maritimes department of southeastern France. It is long. Its drainage basin is .Var. Many tributaries rise in the commune and flow east to join the Tinée including the ''Vallon du Serre'', the ''Ruisseau de Fava'', the ''Vallon du Bairols'', and the ''Ravin de Saint Martin''.

History

The name ''Bairolum'' is cited around 1040. The village was then given to

Lérins Abbey Lérins Abbey () is a Cistercian monastery on the island of Saint-Honorat, one of the Lérins Islands, on the French Riviera, with an active monastic community. There has been a monastic community there since the 5th century. The constructio ...

then became a fief of the Grimaldi. The village was linked to the outside world by a motorable road in 1939. There were still 257 inhabitants in 1858.

Heraldry

Administration

Population

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Bairolois'' or ''Bairoloises'' in French.

Sites and Monuments

*Ruins of a Chateau *The Medieval Church of Sainte-Marguerite whose "S" form is due to the topography. Inside there are two frescoes in the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

on the theme of the Baptism of Christ. The church has a painting by Jean Rocca of the Virgin of the Rosary and Mysteries dated 1645. The church also contains a Group Sculpture on a Processional dais of Saint Marguerite and the Tarasque (18th century) which is registered as an historical object.Ministry of Culture, Palissy *The Chapel of Saint Antoine above the village *The Chapel of Saint-Roch, above, built around 1750 *Remains of the Chapel of Saint-Martin *Two former oil and grain mills *The remains of the old village below the present village.

References

Bibliography

*Philippe de Beauchamp, ''The misunderstood High Country. Isolated Villages and Hamlets of Alpes-Marities'', p. 81, éditions Serre, Nice, 1989, ; p. 159 {{authority control Communes of Alpes-Maritimes