Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

History

Saint Jean Cap Ferrat was known to the ancient Greeks as Anao. The site of present-day Cap Ferrat was first settled by Celto-Ligurian tribes, then by the Lombards at the end of the 6th century. Sant Ospizio (or Saint Hospice), a hermit friar, is said to have inhabited a tower on the Eastern part of the peninsula. Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat had once been known as Cap-Saint-Sospir after a sixth-century monk who had lived in the area. In the 8th century, the history of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat changed when the Saracens occupied the site and used it as a base for pirating until the 11th century. By 1388, the territory of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat with the entire County of Nice was given by treaty to the Dukes of Savoy (see also History of Villefranche-sur-Mer). The history of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat tells that Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy built a fort at Saint-Hospice in 1561 in an effort to secure the coastline from invaders. The fort was destroyed in 1706 by the Duke of Berwick when Nice was occupied by the French armies of King Louis XIV. During the 18th century, the history of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat changed when the area - officially part of the Kingdom of Sardinia - was occupied off and on by the French. It was returned to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1814 after Napoleon's abdication. In 1860, the County of Nice was finally ceded by treaty to France and the peninsula became a magnet for kings and wealthy visitors, a new era in the history of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. The small fishing village of Saint Jean developed and by 1904 was established as a self-standing commune with the rest of the peninsula, separated from nearby Villefranche-sur-Mer. At the beginning of the 20th century, King Léopold II of Belgium owned an estate on Cap Ferrat and built several houses and an…

Most-observed species

• Yellow-legged Gull

  Larus michahellis J.F.Naumann, 1840 · Aves
  2,776
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,432
• Eurasian Blackcap

  Sylvia atricapilla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,428
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  2,416
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,393
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,049
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  1,817
• Japanese Cheesewood

  Pittosporum tobira (Murray) Aiton fil. · Magnoliopsida
  1,775

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2025-03-20
  1 km WSW of Cantaron, France
• M 3.1 — 2025-03-18
  1 km ESE of Tourrette-Levens, France
• M 3.3 — 2025-03-18
  2 km N of Berre-les-Alpes, France
• M 3.9 — 2024-12-09
  8 km WNW of Acceglio, Italy
• M 4.1 — 2024-09-14
  62 km SE of Ramatuelle, France
• M 4.1 — 2023-11-21
  10 km WSW of Acceglio, Italy