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The Russian community was almost as prominent in Nice as the British in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With the backing of Tsar Nicolas II, this Russian Orthodox cathedral was completed in 1912 as the community’s focal point.

An impressive monastery with elegant gardens and a splendid chapel.

British-owned Berne is the region’s best wine visitors’ centre. The site is picturesque, the welcome friendly and professional and there’s a full calendar of cultural events. There’s also a first-class hotel-restaurant on-site, L’Auberge. The best wine is the Cuvée Spéciale.

Perched directly above the sea, this may be the most attractively sited wine chateau in Provence. Owner Henri de Saint-Victor has wrestled the unyielding land to produce red wines in the forefront of the Bandol appellation.

The white battlements of the Château de Tarascon seem straight from a historical romance. Built to guard a vital crossing of the Rhône on Provence’s borders, the riverside castle has steep, crenellated curtain walls between massive round towers and looks impregnable. It was begun by King Louis of Anjou, ruler of Provence in the 15th century, and was completed by his successor, the somewhat extravagant King René. On his death, Provence became part of France (see Union with France) and the castle lost its strategic importance, becoming a prison until 1926 (see La Tarasque, Tarascon).

This offshore island fortress was built in the 16th century to protect the city’s port and was turned into a prison in 1580. Among its inmates were the real Comte de Mirabeau, and the fictional Count of Monte Cristo, the antihero of Alexander Dumas’ novel of the same name (see Alexandre Dumas). The fortress is accessible by ferry from the Vieux Port.

If the stunning underground winery resembles a cathedral, it’s not coincidental. The site has had spiritual associations since the Greeks worshipped here in the 4th century BC. The owners aim to harmonize with this past, even programming cultivation by the phases of the moon. The wines, however, are anything but eccentric.

The chateau’s Côtes-de-Provence wines have improved tremendously in recent times. Its Cuvée Prieuré has the class to age for 15 years or more, which makes it more than worthy of its historic surroundings. The superb chateau and grounds host summer concerts.

Built as a Grimaldi fortress in 1309, this castle’s battlements dominate the landscape of Hautde-Cagnes. Inside the walls, however, is a wonderful surprise: a sumptuous palace, built in 1620 by Jean Henri Grimaldi. Today it houses a clutch of museums and art collections including a museum of modern Mediterranean art, a museum dedicated to the olive tree, and a collection of portraits of the renowned 1930s chanteuse , Suzy Solidor.

At their best, the reds are dark and powerful, the (rarer) whites intensely fruity.