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Tende (Municipality, Alpes-Maritimes, France)

Tenda

Flag of Tende - Image by Ivan Sache, 27 April 2002

Presentation of Tende
Flag of Tende

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Presentation of Tende

The municipality of Tende (in Italian, Tenda; 2,025 inhabitants in 2006; 17,747 ha; 816 m asl) is the main village of the upper valley of the river Roya, which remained Italian until 1947. The area around Tende, in the Mercantour/Argentera mountains, was the prefered hunting place of the Italian kings, and were therefore not incorporated to France in 1860 with Savoy and the rest of the County of Nice. On 10 February 1947, the Treaty of Paris between France and Italy incorporated the upper valley of Roya to France. Since then, the border between the two countries matches the geographical border made of the watershed.

The last French village before the border, Tende watches the acccess to Cuneo, in Piedmont, via the Pass (1,871 m) of Tende (1,871 m), now replaced with a road and railway tunnel. Bombed during the Second World War, the railway line Nice-Cuneo-Torino was reopened only in the 1980s.
Tende is one of the starting points for treks into the extraordinary Vallée des Merveilles, world-renowed for its wild landscapes and its prehistorical rock engravings, whose symbolics is still a matter of speculation among specialists. Due to an increase in vandalism and looting - some "tourists" used to ink-colour the engravings to have more contrast on their pictures, and there was even an attempt to "steal" a huge engraved rock with an helicopter - the most important rocks have been moved to a museum in Tende and replaced in situ by replicas.

Ivan Sache, 27 April 2002

Flag of Tende

As shown in a TV report (magazine Par là, TMC network), the flag of Tende is a vertical, forked flag, horizontally divided yellow-red. The colours of the flag are taken from the muncipal arms.

The Town Hall of Tende displays on its main balcony a row of five vertical gonfanons representing the history of Tende. The display was explained in the aforementioned program by the Mayor of Tende as follows:
- from c. 1100 to 1480, Tende belonged to the Counts of Ventimiglia (now in Liguria, Italy, and the most direct access to the Roya valley), represented by a flag made of nine alternating vertical yellow and red stripes.
- from 1480 to 1580, Tende belonged to "France, represented by the lis of France", according to the Mayor. In fact, the flag has only one yellow fleur-de-lis surmounted by a red label, so it is the ancient flag of Provence. Provence was incorporated to France in 1486. However, the Guide Gallimard Alpes-Maritimes says that Tende belonged to the Vintimiglia-Lascaris family until 1575.
- from 1580 to 1791, Tende belonged to Savoy, represented by its traditional flag, red with the white cross.
- from 1791 to 1815, Tende was occupied by France, represented by the Tricolore flag.
- in 1870, Italy united, therefore the Italian flag, apparently with the royal arms in the middle.
- in 1947, as said above, Tende became French again.
The Mayor did not say what happened to Tende between 1815 and 1870. The County of Nice was then given back to the King of Sardinia, and retroceded to France, except the area surrounding Tende, in 1860.

Ivan Sache, 27 April 2002