‘so, why is Grasse there?’

At university, more years ago than I care to think of, I took a degree in geography, specialising in the economics of location. My subsequent career had nothing much to do with such things, but when I came to Grasse, it felt almost like joining a lecture.

Grasse, with the twin towers of the cathedral and the old Bishops' Palace on a small knoll, the Puy, close to the edge of its ancient site.

Historic settlements virtually everywhere were based on three factors: security, the availability of water and ample food sources. Sitting high on its promontory above the valley of the Mourachonne river, Grasse’s site vividly demonstrates all three.

The hinterland, with hills to the north offering pasture and the fertile flat land below providing arable land, was suitable. Water pours out of the springs above the town, especially La Foux. And above all, the key is the geomorphological accident of the promontory half way between the valley floor of what is now the Plan de Grasse and the plateau of the Roquevignon above. At 200 metres above the valley floor and protected to the north by steep hills, it’s a spacious natural fortress. Just try taking the various ‘traverses’ from the station up towards the old town or else the steep descent on the route Napoleon, imagine where the walls were and you’ll see why.

The view from the north east (top) shows the promontory on which Grasse developed, but a view of 1825 from the south before the town had developed much outside the walls demonstrates the natural fortress more vividly (Paul Sénequier, Jean Luce - Collection Adam)

The original settlement, where the cathedral and the old bishops' palace now stand, was on the small knoll slightly elevated above what is now the town, so it’s not surprising that the official name of the cathedral is Notre-Dame-du-Puy (‘Our Lady of the Height’ - you can see the derivation here). The original town walls surrounded only the Puy: they were much extended in the later twelfth century to allow the growth of the settlement. If you visit the Maison du Patrimoine, you can see three maquettes which vividly show how Grasse developed: a photo doesn't do them justice, but here is one of them:

For the original inhabitants, the site was safe, relatively flat and had plenty of reliable water streaming from the steep hills behind.   But what made it thrive and become a significant town, rather than just a secure village like Bar sur Loup or Gourdon?

To start with, the promontory is spacious – 400m by 400m, quite large enough for a medieval town to develop as a trading centre. Placed safely in a location of transition between the pastoral economy of the hills and the arable land of the valley floor below, Grasse’s merchants and markets were the natural middle-men for the agricultural production of the area.

Approximate area of old town, with the Riou Blanquet to the north and east.

The site was also ideal for two medieval industries and well located for inter-city rather than just local trade.

The mills

Marking the north-east edge of the town is the precipitous valley of the Riou Blanquet, ideally suited for the construction of mills of all kinds to tap the power of the stream. In medieval times, they milled grain and processed cloth (‘fulling’, in which fabrics are cleaned, shrunk and thereby thickened). Later on, the mills produced olive oil and soap, while a few were saw- and other industrial mills.

The 'Quartier des Moulins' is best seen in modern times from the bridge of av Saint Exupery (which was once the railway bridge of the Chemin du Sud). Even in a modern photograph, you can see buildings characteristic of mills and factories lined up along the valley sides.

Quartier des Moulins, 1918 and today, in the sharp incision created by the Riou Blanquet stream. Apart from the arches of the Pont de la Roque viaduct, demolished by the German occupiers in 1944, many of the buildings are unchanged, although there are significantly more trees.

The tanners and inter-city trade

Water tapped from the Foux was routed by multiple small channels on to the Puy and supported numerous tanners in the town. Originally they used goat- and sheepskins from the surrounding hills, but the industry expanded because they were able to differentiate themselves. Tanning everywhere needed trees, especially oaks, to provide tannin, but Grasse was fortunate to have ample supplies of the sumac and mastic bushes (‘lentisque’ in French) and of myrtle. Grasse’s tanners built a reputation for soft, green-coloured, high quality leather by processing skins using these mediterranean plants, which were ground for their use in Grasse’s mills.

That was where the inter-city trade came in.

Grasse is on the edge of the hills with easy access to the sea

Grasse is only 15km from the sea, over gently falling land once you’re at the bottom of the Puy. Movement by sea was by far the most efficient method of travel in medieval times, and Grasse, from its location on the edge of the hills, secure against pirates from the sea, could communicate and trade with Mediterranean towns.

Raw skins were brought in from the coast to be tanned in Grasse and sold on to wider markets, making Grasse far more than just a local market town – it became an industrial centre with links way beyond the local area. It had a thriving trade relationship in particular with Genoa, one of the most powerful city states in Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

The main drawback must have been that, even by the standards of medieval towns, its stench would have been unbearable!

A successful trading and industrial town

Nicholas Breakspear, the only English pope

By 1154, Grasse was sufficiently important that Nicolas Breakspear, who as Hadrian IV was and is likely to remain the only English pope, appealed to it to protect the monks of the Lérins islands (off Cannes).

Its success can be gauged by comparing its population with that of other historic towns. By the middle of the thirteenth century it was around 7,000. For comparison, Nice was probably a similar size, Genoa and London both about 30,000, York and Bristol (the UK’s next largest towns at the time) around 8,000 and Paris, then the largest city in Europe, maybe 150,000.

In modern times, the competitive edge provided by an advantageous location has shrunk substantially. Grasse is now only the fifth largest town in the Alpes-Maritimes and ranks 134 in France, but the reasons for its existence are still clear today.