EDMOND ROSSI, KEEPER OF MYTHS AND THE LEGENDS OF THE PAYS D’AZUR

 

Part of the oral heritage of the French Riviera, these stories were once told by night. They were enriched with historical facts and marvelous details that captivated the storyteller’s audience. They would probably have been forgotten were it not for the incredible tenacity of a passionate local collector of tales, who assembled them in an anthology of about fifteen works.

Edmond Rossi is a native of the Nice region, where he lives and works. Having earned a degree in history and regional ethnology, he travels around the surrounding area, from the coasts to the backcountry.

On his journey, he discovers cultural riches that are sometimes little known even to people from the area. From the prehistoric vestiges of the Valley of Marvels to the mythical Templars, he reveals the Côte d’Azur of medieval chateaux and the fairy tales of local dialects, piecing together the colorful mosaic of the Riviera’s heritage like an archaeologist.

Edmond Rossi welcomes us warmly to his office, and before long, the anecdotes start pouring out of him. He immediately suggests two ideas for beautiful walks that are connected to local legends. The first, near the village of Duranus in the Vésubie region, and accessible by car, is a place known as “Le Saut des Français” (Frenchman’s Jump), where members of the French Resistance fighting against the occupation of the county of Nice were thrown off the top of the 300 meter cliff. It’s a 45-minute walk to get to the second site, the cursed village of Rocca Sparviera, which was abandoned in the 16th Century after a series of dramatic and mysterious occurrences…

TO READ

Contes et Légendes du Pays d’Azur (Editions Sutton) et Histoires et Légendes des Balcons d’Azur (Editions Campanile) by Edmond Rossi

To find out more about Edmond Rossi :

and www.edmondrossiecrivain.hautetfort.com

Ruins of the village of Roccasparviera