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 

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This steel engraving by Thomas Allom shows the Isère valley between Voirons and Voireppe.

General view of La Côte Saint-André ca. 1925

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The old Railway Station ca. 1925

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The station does not exist anymore.

Avenue Hector Berlioz ca. 1912

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Souvenirs from La Côte Saint-André

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Souvenirs from La Côte Saint-André

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Souvenirs from La Côte Saint-André

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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

   

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The following are a few views of La Côte Saint-André from the hill which overlooks it.

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The Plain of Bièvre can be seen in the distance in this picture.

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The tree-lined road on the top-left corner of this picture is Avenue Hector Berlioz.

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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.

Copyright notice: The texts, photos, images and musical scores on all pages of this site are covered by UK Law and International Law. All rights of publication or reproduction of this material in any form, including Web page use, are reserved. Their use without our explicit permission is illegal.

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