Situated along the Brague river, the town consists of two separate areas - the old town/village and the technology park of Sophia Antipolis.
The town was built in 1519, based on a grid Roman street plan - a refreshing change from the dark winding streets of many other Provençal villages. As with many towns along the Côte d'Azur excavations carried out in the surrounding hills bear witness to the presence of man going back an extremely long way, even to prehistoric times. While it has quite a lot of boutiques and chic cafes to keep the tourists and resident Brits occupied, it has the feel of a living village rather than being a tourist attraction.
The village is a charming 16th century village of cobbled streets, pastel buildings, colourful shutters and antique markets, all set up around a simply gorgeous central square filled with café tables in the sun. In extreme contrast the neighbouring technology park of Sophia Antipolis, built in the 1970's, has evolved into a highly recognised international community, with more than 1,000 companies hiring more than 25,000 people and specialising in research and development.
