'Le Nomade', by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa, was commissioned by the Ville d’Antibes and the Picasso Museum for a temporary exhibition in 2007 but in 2010 the nomad became a permanent resident of Antibes, here on the upper terrace of the Bastion Saint-Jaume.
The massive yet delicate structure, eight metres tall and composed of white-painted, stainless steel letters, depicts a seated man facing the Mediterranean (though gaps rather than a face or feet), almost like a figurehead on the fortifications. Visitors are able to walk inside and, conceptually, use the space and peace to travel mentally. It must look wonderful when illuminated at night. Next time....
As Plensa has said, "Like bricks, letters have a potential for construction: they enable us to construct thought".
The first building on this site was a Roman temple to emperor Septimus Severus, the ruins later becoming a chapel to St. James, on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. This in turn was sacrificed in favour of town walls in the 16th Century; the Bastion Saint-Jaume itself was a 17th Century enhancement by the renowned French military engineer Sébastien le Prestre, de Vauban.
As the need for defence declined, the fort was roofed and accommodated a shipyard until 1985, there was a shipyard here too; Jacque Cousteau's ship 'Calypso' was fitted-out here in c.1950.
By 2005, essential repairs became a full restoration; 'Le Nomade' commemorated the curtain wall being made available to the public.
Antibes essentially takes its name from this view of Nice: in the 4th Century BCE, a Greek colony was founded here at the south-western end of the Baie des Anges, on the opposite side of the Var estuary from Nice, therefore being called 'Antipolis': 'Opposite-City'. Officially entering the Roman empire in 43 BCE, this was the largest town in the region for 500 years. Subsequent centuries were tumultuous; as mentioned above, Henri II therefore ordered fortification in 1550, to protect the strategic location of the last French port before the independent county of Nice. The 16th Century ramparts remain at the heart of the modern resort town between Cannes and Nice.
Le Nomade seems to face the heart of Nice; Porte Lympia is behind the tallest of the yacht masts, with the Vieille Ville to the left, 17 km away.
The telecom tower on Mont Leuze is visible above that mast, 21½ km away, with the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur 20.7 km away at the summit of the smaller hill to the left, Mont Gros.
The steep slope above the rightmost mast is the Tête de Chien, a 550 m headland 27 km away overlooking Monaco. The horizon behind is in Italy.
The highest point between those masts is Mont Agel (1,148 m, 31 km), with Nice Air Base monitoring/directing military air traffic from its summit.
The peak to the left of the telecom mast is Cime de Baudon (1,266 m), 34½ km from here.
Left of that, the distant peak above the Observatoire is Balcon de Marta (2,122m) in the Ligurian Alps, 62.3 km from here and just 2 km from the Italian border.
To the left of Le Nomade, the nearest distinct hill is Mont Chauve, 23 km away, with Fort du Mont Chauve d'Aspremont (built 1885) at its 853 m summit.
I can't readily be more specific, but the Alps are on the horizon.
