Straight Street

This is one of the oldest streets in the village, as it is an extension of the road from Nice on one side and connects the lands of Belloires and further Auron to the village on one side, and those of Ublan on the other, as well as the passes towards Ubaye and the north. It is therefore a vital axis between fertile and relatively flat lands, a south-north axis that has been heavily used throughout history.
The village was reached from the bottom of the valley through the Belloires district by taking the tufa stone bridge, which spans the Mardaric valley.
In a mountainous region, with wooden buildings, open and adjoining haylofts, wood stoves, and wood reserves within easy reach, fires were common: chimney fires, fires started by troops during wars. Thus, this straight street was deeply affected by two major fires. The first on July 19, 1594, which destroyed almost the entire village (except the bell tower) and affected the houses on Rue Droite in the section with the rebuilt arcades, and more recently, the great fire of the 20th century, that of July 31, 1929.
This is why the section between the former Saint Maur hospital, which became the local hospital center (CH) and EHPAD (residential establishment for dependent elderly people), represents the old part of the street, notably with, after the central bakery, 17th-century arcaded houses to house the shops on the ground floor. The section located toward Rue des Communes de France is more recent, dating, for the most part, from the reconstruction of the village following the great fire of July 31, 1929.
These houses feature a new architecture: being perpendicular to the main road, snow falling from the roofs does not obstruct the street, and the space between the houses is a matter of both safety (it marked the end of shared roofs that could have transmitted a fire) and public health. All the buildings met the hygiene and sanitation standards of the time.
These multi-story houses have running water, indoor toilets, electricity, wide staircases, and large windows to let in sunlight and air.
All built on the same model, they allowed many families displaced by the fire to be rehoused in less than a year and a half, and in much better conditions of hygiene and comfort. On the ground floor were stables for animals such as donkeys, mules, and goats, as well as shops.
The inauguration of these houses and the official handing over of the keys took place on December 21, 1930, the first official day of winter.
Rue Droite also boasts a rich history of shops and old professions such as saddlers, farriers, blacksmiths, tailors, spinners, but also photographers, mechanics, bars, dry cleaners, beauty salons, hairdressers, wine and beverage outlets, butchers, artist studios, funeral directors, grocery stores, crêperies, restaurants, bakeries, stopover lodges, family homes, and the Mercantour Park House, which was opened in 1981, a hospital and police station.
Two small squares punctuate its route: the Inférieure and Centrale squares. The chapels open and close the Straight Street: to the north the Chapel of Saint Mary Magdalene, open at the end of July for the annual mass, and to the south the Chapels of Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian with their 15th century frescoes, attributed to the Piedmontese painters Baleison and Canavesio.