Belvédère (French pronunciation: [bɛlvedɛʁ] ⓘ; Occitan: Barver; Italian: Belvedere) is a commune in the Vésubie valley north of Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.

The world famous novel Darkness at Noon was completed in a villa nearby and the television series Belle and Sebastian was shot in and around the village.

There are some vestiges of ancient fortifications behind the current church, which represent the prehistoric beginnings of the village.In 500 BC the Gauls infiltrated the Ligurian coast and arrived in the mountains around.

Belvedere was occupied and noble Romans of Cimez (Nice) who spent summers in the area and developed the thermal baths at the nearby mountain village of Berthemont-les-Bains.

Reputedly Conrelia Solenina wife of the third century emperor Galienus(c. 218 – 268) and mother of Valerian II, Saloninus, and Marinianus visited the baths.[4].

They disputed Provence with the Visigoths, then the Ostrogoths installed themselves, followed by the Lombards and finally the Francs, who organised and administered the region and repulsed the raiding Sassanids(Arabs) in the 7th & 8th centuries, whose attacks penetrating as far as the Vesubie.

In 926 the Italian nobility turned against him and requested that Hugh of Arles, Comte d'Arles, the effective ruler of Provence (or Lower Burgundy), rule them instead.

It was the feudal era with a lord or Seigneur for each village, but most areas maintained their autonomy and Luceram, Utelle and Saint Martin Vesubie, like Belvedere, administered themselves.

This would be the beginning of a bloody confrontation with the Austro-Sardinian armies, which pillaged and caused havoc in many of the villages in the hills and valleys like Belvédère.

On 2 March 1793,General Brunet republican troops based in Saint-Julien, assaulted the village: "the soldiers quickly climbed the escaladèrent terraces, planted with olive trees that made them immune artillery fire and musketry" the Sardinian troops were forced to retreat hastily to Saint-Blaise, Saint-Martin, the Col de fenestration and even Entracque.

In September 1793, the village suffered violent attacks from the Col de Raus; the redoubts of Saint-Julien, Vesca Del Cairo and Saint-Sauveur was the scene of fierce battles.

On September 8, Belvedere fell again, and it was not until April 1794, with the Vésubie, the village was retaken" [5] The fall of Robespierre brought the fighting to an end in May 1794, but the comté de Nice was back in French hands.

The department was enriched by the addition of the arrondissement of San Remo ( Saorge, La Brigue, Perinaldo, Taggia, Ventimille and Bordighera)In Belvedere the Raynardi family was en-nobled.

By the treaty of Turin on 24 March 1860 the King of Piedmont ceded to Napoleon III Savoy and the Comte de Nice on condition of a favourable plebiscite.

In the spring of 1945 the Authion massif above Belvédère was occupied by the 34th DI and troops of German mountain brigade in a network of fortifications: Forca (2078 m), Three Communes redoubt (2080 m), Plan Caval (1932 m) and fort Mille Fourches (2042 m).

At the end of a perilous ascent, Corporal Césaire Le Mercier, a Breton belonging to the 1st BIMP made it into the fort and emerged with 38 prisoners.

It allowed French troops to continue to Piedmont following the orders of General de Gaulle's who wished to occupy territory with a view to obtaining border changes in future peace negotiations.

This French attitude led to tensions and hostilities with the American allies, who were keen to prevent the dismemberment of the Italian territories by vengeful victors.

He visited the area with his companion, Daphne Hardy Henrion, in the summer 1939 staying first at the San Sebastian Hotel and then renting a villa nearby until they were forced to return to Paris by the German invasion of France.

[8] Belvédère together with the Gordolasque valley was used as the location for the 1965 television series Belle et Sébastien based on the novel by Cécile Aubry about a six-year-old boy named Sébastien and his dog Belle, a Pyrenean mountain dog, who live in a small French Alpine mountain village on the French side of the border with Italy.

[12] Andre Laurenti (died 1609) Professor at the University of Montpellier, presented at court by Le comtesse de Tonnerre in 1589, appointed as doctor to the King.

The film Le Cas du docteur Laurent starring Jean Gabin was made in 1957 largely on location at the nearby town of Saint-Martin-Vésubie and many local scenes are used.