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Turbie (La) - Church
It was during the period of Roman antiquity that the first traces of the close links which unite La Turbie and Monaco began to appear. From this period onward, Caesar himself used the pier in the port while he was setting up camp for his legions on the observatory plateau, the Tête de Chien. The issue of the limits between La Turbie and Monaco lasted for the entire duration of the medieval and modern periods, provoking a conflict between la Savoie and the Principality which was not settled until 1760, when the current boarders were established.
In 1705, Louis XIV put Prince Antoine I in possession of the lordship of La Turbie for a short time, until the treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
At the time of the unification of La Turbie to France in 1860, relations with Monaco were fundamentally economic. Regardless of whether there were issues surrounding the workforce or foreign clientele, at that time a huge population influx was experienced in the emerging city of Monte Carlo. This is how the municipalities of Beausoleil in 1904 and Cap d’Ail in 1908 (from La Turbie) came to exist. Given that the rock at La Turbie was in very high demand, there were lots of ideas as to what should be done with it. The cathedral and the oceanographic museum of Monaco were built out of the white limestone found in the rock at La Turbie.
It was at this time that Prince Charles III donated ornamentations bearing Monaco’s colours from a side chapel, Saint Charles’ chapel, to Saint-Michel’s Church. These ornamentations most notably included a painting of Saint Charles Borromée by Jean-Baptiste van Loo, a handwritten letter from Saint Charles Borromée and an oil on canvas depicting Saint Devota by Lorenzo Gastaldo.