Valbonne was
built in 1119 by monks according to a checkerboard orthogonal design.
The mill was built at the same time and attracted a number of villagers
around the abbey. Up until the creation of Sophia Antipolis high-tech
centre in April 1972, Valbonne was a quiet little village concentrated
around its 12th century Romanesque church.
From the mid 1970s, major firms in the private sector - from teaching
to research - set up business in Sophia Antipolis. Ten years later,
there were more than 120 companies in the pine forest. Sophia Antipolis
began to specialise in new information technologies and communications;
the health and research sector developed with the arrival of numerous
pharmaceutical laboratories.
Today, Sophia
Antipolis is host to more than 1100 companies of various activities
such as telecommunications or biotechnologies. All around Sophia
Antipolis, you can stroll through the Valmasque forest (some 430
ha): pines, green oaks, botanical trails.
