Roquebillière

Roquebillière (French pronunciation: [ʁɔkbiljɛʁ]; historical Italian: Roccabigliera; Occitan: Ròcabilhiera) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.

Roquebillière
Commune
A general view of the village, with the belfry in the middle
Coat of arms
Location of Roquebillière
Roquebillière Show map of France Roquebillière Show map of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Coordinates: 44°00′43″N 7°18′27″E
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Alpes-Maritimes
Arrondissement	Nice
Canton	Tourrette-Levens
Intercommunality	Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Gérard Manfredi[1]
Area 1	25.92 km2 (10.01 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	1,816
• Density	70/km2 (180/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	06103 /06450
Elevation	500–2,045 m (1,640–6,709 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

It was part of the historic County of Nice until 1860 as Roccabigliere. The town was at one time a Templar settlement.

Arthur Koestler describes the town in August of 1939 in the opening chapter of Scum of the Earth (book), his memoir of the Fall of France. He and two companions spent their last summer there before the outbreak of World War II while finishing his book Darkness at Noon.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	1,426	—
1975	1,336	−0.93%
1982	1,504	+1.71%
1990	1,539	+0.29%
1999	1,467	−0.53%
2009	1,635	+1.09%
2014	1,774	+1.65%
2020	1,822	+0.45%
Source: INSEE[3]

See also

• Col d'Andrion
• Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department