[Illustration: FIG. 262. ROQUEBRUNE CASTLE.]
the narrow strip of land between the shore and the hill on which the castle stood, and barred the way along the coast. The eastern gate of the town, and the “Long Street,” which is also a very narrow one, leading through it, still remain, but a new and wider roadway, which forms part of the Cornice Road, has been constructed along the back of the houses in the eastern bay, and now encloses the harbour on the side next the town. An old square tower at the extreme point of the promontory is one of the few relics of the fortifications of the town. Above the “Long Street” the houses are built in terraces, rising rapidly tier above tier on the hillsides, and approached by long flights of steps and narrow vaulted lanes. In the midst of these stand the churches, buildings of the seventeenth century, of clumsy character. The towers and spires, however, form a picturesque group (Fig. 263); and along with the houses, as seen from the harbour, together with the magnificent background of lofty and partly snow-clad mountains which shelter Mentone on the north, they compose a splendid picture.
[Illustration: FIG. 263. MENTONE (_from the Harbour_).]
The old castle which formerly crowned the summit, has been entirely demolished, and its site is occupied as a cemetery, from which very fine views are obtained both of the coast line and of the mountains on the north. Numerous narrow valleys and gorges run up from the sea towards the mountains, forming beautiful and interesting promenades and excursions, but there is little to attract the student of architecture.
At GORBIO, beautifully situated about five miles from Mentone to the west, and some distance up a charming valley, there are an old church with a dark nave, and the remains of a castle of the Lascaris. The houses here are united by arches thrown across the narrow streets, an arrangement very common in this district, and supposed to be for the purpose of resisting to some extent the effect of earthquakes.
STE AGNÈS, not far from Gorbio, is also a favourite excursion. It is a lofty and beautiful spot, with the remains of an old castle said to be of Saracenic origin.
The ascent to CASTELLAR forms another delightful walk of about an hour and a-half, giving a fine idea of the richness of the valleys of Mentone in lemons, in the growth of which they excel every place north of Palermo. The town of Castellar is of some extent, and its situation on a “col” at the top of a steep ascent is fine, but there is no architecture of importance. It is clumsily built, and has been at one time surrounded with walls, which now form the exterior of houses. Some remains of ditches and towers--one of the latter being converted into the belfry of the church--also still exist.