Berlioz’s Birthplace – La Côte Saint-André
The town and surroundings
In the opening chapter of his Memoirs, Berlioz described the scenic surroundings of his home town:
“As the name indicates, La Côte-Saint-André is built on the slope of a hill, and dominates a fairly wide plain – a rich, golden and lush expanse of land, whose silence conveys a sense of dreamy grandeur, further enhanced by the surrounding chain of mountains to the south and east, behind which rise in the distance, laden with glaciers, the gigantic peaks of the Alps.”
La Côte
Saint-André and its
surroundings
in pictures
Unless otherwise specified, all the photographs reproduced on this page were taken by Michel Austin in April 1998; other pictures have been scanned from postcards and engravings in our own collection. © Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin. All rights of reproduction reserved.
1. La Côte Saint-André in times past
The Isère valley in the 19th century
This steel engraving by Thomas Allom shows the Isère valley
between Voirons and Voireppe.
General view of La Côte Saint-André ca. 1925
The old Railway Station ca. 1925
The station does not exist anymore.
Avenue Hector Berlioz ca. 1912
Souvenirs from La Côte Saint-André
Souvenirs from La Côte Saint-André
Souvenirs from La Côte Saint-André
This card was posted on 3 December 1919.
2. La Côte Saint-André in our time
A view of La Côte
Saint-André from the valley,
looking towards the hill which overlooks the town
The following are a few views of La Côte
Saint-André from the hill which overlooks it.
The Plain of Bièvre can be seen in the distance in this picture.
The tree-lined
road on the top-left corner of this picture is Avenue Hector
Berlioz.
This picture, taken by our friend Pepijn van Doesburg on an
afternoon in 2003, shows a view of the town and the Plain of Bièvre from the
north, with very clear air but a thunderstorm approaching from the west. Across
the plain behind the first row of hills, one can see the Vercors mountains.
© 1998-2010 (unless otherwise stated) Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin for all the pictures and information on this page.
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