Site classified by its historic buildings, Biot knew to preserve the authentic character of medieval village where each stone seems to reveal you a piece of his history. Through medieval doors along the old covered way the visitor will have any leisure to discover the lanes on the unequal ground, the houses with façades covered of spanning ivy for better defending these narrow passages. One can't help but admire the beautiful doors, vaults, stairways, stonework, sundials, cobblestones, and the perspectives from one street to another.
This village perched up high dates to 154 BC and overlooks hills covered with mimosas and olive trees. Visiting Biot is to take a real tour through Provençal history. It's streets and alleys are names accordingly: la Calade, Le Portugon, Le Cul de Sac, La calade des Migraniers, Lei Croûtons, place de l'Airette, rue Rondon, rue des orfevres, place de la Catastrophe (where two houses collapsed on June 12, 1898), and place des Arcades which is outlined on two sides by Romanesque and Gothic arcades.
Biot is an arts-and-crafts town perched on a promontory overlooking Antibes and known for its glass-blowing and pottery studios. As far back as Roman times, Biot was a Potters' Village. In the 15th century, it was decimated by the plague and was completely re-peopled by 48 families from Genoa. Biot then continued to flourish thanks to trade with the Genoese. Towards the end of the 19th century, clay pots used for transporting foodstuffs were gradually falling into disuse and it was not until the middle of the 20th century that Biot resumed its expansion, with the development of glassworks and decorative pottery.
Classified as "City and Trades of Art", Biot owes its international fame with the tradition of puffed up glass and the manufacture of the monumental clay earthenware jars. But this village with the original medieval seal is also closely related to Fernand Leger, whose works are gathered in a national museum called "the Cathedral of the Modern art".
Tourist Office
46, Rue St-Sébastien
Phone: +33(0)493 65 78 00
Fax: +33(0)493 65 78 04
Official website of Biot
