The ruins of Castel Nuovo are located on a foothill of Mont Macaron above Nice, in the Alpes Maritimes.
In the 6th century the village of Châteauneuf-Villevieille suffered numerous invasions from Saracens and Lombards. A new town, Castel Nuovo, was thus built on an easily defensible high point. This fortified village is gradually developed and various defensive elements are superimposed over time.
Thanks to the climate of security generated by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 and a lack of amenities and easy access to water for crops, the medieval town was gradually deserted by its inhabitants in the 18th century. Reassured, they recolonized the primitive Roman site of Villa Ventula where the current village is located.
The Castel Nuovo site was devastated by soldiers of the revolutionary army in 1793 and only two families still lived there in 1866.
Listed in 1939, the site offers a first-rate fortified architectural ensemble, unfortunately very ruined today...
In the past, the entrance to the site was marked by a large country house, flanked by a rectangular dovecote with double rows of vents.
Lightning struck and very deteriorated, this tower was razed as a safety measure at the beginning of the 20th century. This architectural ensemble was donated to the town by Mrs Maureen Harrison and in agreement with Bâtiments de France, the identical reconstruction of this dovecote was undertaken by "Les Amis de Castel Nuovo", relying on old photographic prints guaranteeing the conservation of the characteristics of the original building.
