Valbonne is a commune near Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Valbonne means 'the good valley' in Provençal and translates to Vaubona in Occitan.The village is in the commune of Valbonne Sophia Antipolis, which consists of the village of Valbonne, and the technology park of Sophia Antipolis.GeographyValbonne is situated in a basin, halfway along the Brague river. The commune consists of two sites:  the old village situated in the extreme north-west Sophia Antipolis in the east, around the towns of Haut-Sartoux and GarbejaïreHistoryThere are traces of prehistoric human settlement in the area that date back to the Iron Age, the first days of agriculture. Many prehistoric artifacts such as Neolithic stone axes, funeral urns from the Bronze Age, and fragments of amphora, oil and grain jars (dolia) have been excavated. The remains of an aqueduct constructed during Roman settlement in the 3rd century A.D. are also present in the area of Clausonne.In the High Middle Ages several neighbouring hamlets (Opio, Le Brusc, Sartoux, les Clausonnes and Villebruc) already existed. But the small, isolated valley of Valbonne was deserted. In 1199 the land was offered by the bishop of Antibes to the abbey of Prads (Prads-Haute-Bleone, Alpes-de-Haut-Provence) who founded the abbey of St. Mary. At the time, this area was called Vallis Bona, meaning "the good valley." Later, it became known as Valbonne.