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A fairly large town and the gateway to the French Riviera.
France » French Riviera

Why Visit
Nice has excellent markets and a beautiful Old Town and Old Port that are worth a visit. Here you can find all sorts of activities, nightlife, museums, and restaurants.

History
Nice has been inhabited for 400.000 years with evidence of human habitation been found in the Terra Amata archaeological site while in the same site houses have been found that date back 230.000 years.

Around 350 BC, the Greeks of Massalia (modern Marseille), founded Nicaea (Nice) as a trading post. The name of the city Nicaea means victory in Greek and it was probably named so to honor a victory over the Lingurian tribes that lived there. Soon it became an important and busy trading port on the Ligurian coast. It served as an entrance point to Linguria. It acquired a rival in the Roman town of Cemenelum and it remained independent until it came under the control of the Roman Republic. The city’s prosperity ended along with the Fall of Rome and it came under the control of barbarian tribes.

In the 7th century, it joined the Genoese Trade League, which was formed by the towns of Liguria led by Genoa. It was plagued by Saracen raiders and was repeatedly attacked by them. It repulsed attacks in 729 but in 859 and 880 the Saracens managed to sack and burned it taking control of the surrounding countryside for most of the 10th century.

During the Middle Ages, the city was an ally of Pisa and an enemy of its neighboring Genoa. The King of France and the Holy Roman Emperor both tried to subjugate it but it managed to retain its municipal liberties. During the 13th and 14th centuries it fell under the control of the Counts of Provence but finally it remained independent.

Seeing the growth and strength of the Counts of Savoy, the town decided to place itself under their protection. From there forth it played a role in the history of Savoy and Italy until 1860.

The city’s strength increased rapidly under the protection of Savoy as it became the chief port of the Counts for many years. The fortifications around the city were greatly extended and improved and the roads were rebuilt as well. The city became strong enough to be able to repulse with the Barbary pirates. In 1561, Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy abolished Latin as an administrative language and established Italian as the official language of Nice.

During the long and bloody Italian Wars, fought between King Francis I of France and Emperor Charles V of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, the commune suffered great damage by the passage of armies invading Provence. The two monarchs concluded a ten-year truce in a nearby town. However was soon broke out again and in 1543, Nice was attacked by Franco-Ottoman forces led by King Francis I himself and Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha. The attack was repulsed but ultimately the city’s inhabitants were forced to surrender. Barbarossa was allowed to pillage the city and he took more than 2.500 captives. Pestilence struck the city again in 1550 and 1580.

The Duke of Guise captured the city in 1600 and opened the port to all nations establishing full freedom of trade in 1626. This stimulated the city’s economy greatly. It was restored to Savoy in 1696 but it was again besieged by the French in 1705 and the following year the citadel and the ramparts were demolished.

In 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht was signed and the city was returned to the Dukes of Savoy, who were also proclaimed Kings of Sicily. Peace followed and a new town was built. From 1744 until 1748 it was under the control of the Franco-Spaniards. In 1775 the King (who had by the time abdicated the crown of Sicily for that of Sardinia) abolished all the ancient liberties of the commune. During the French Revolutionary Wars it was conquered by the French and was annexed to France. In the congress of Vienna in 1814 it was returned to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia.

The city continued to be under the control of the Kingdom until the wars of Italian unification. During the Second War of Italian Independence, as it is called, the county of Nice was ceded to France as a compensation for French assistance in the war against Austria. The cession was ratified by a referendum (25.000 of 30.700 electors in favor of ceding to France). However there was some opposition to the cession and Italian irredentists considered Nice one of their main national goals along with Istria, Dalmatia, Corsica and Trentino.

The electrified Tramway de Nice was opened in 1900 and by 1930s more bus connections was expanded the transportation network of the entire area. In the 1930s Nice also hosted the international car racing in the Formula Libre (predecessor to Formula One).

When World War II broke out in 1939, Nice became a refuge for displaced foreigners fleeing Eastern Europe. With the defeat of France and the establishment of the Vichy regime however the city suffered anti-Semitic aggressions and Jews of foreign origin were rounded up and deported to interment camps. In November 1942 Italian troops occupied the city. Resistance gained momentum especially after Italy surrendered to the allies in 1943 and German troops moved in to replace them. The city was heavily bombarded by the US Air Force in preparation of Operation: Dragoon, the allied landing in Provence. It was formally liberated in 30 August 1944 when American paratroopers entered the city.

During the second half of the 20th century, Nice enjoyed an economic boom driven by tourism and construction. Convention centers, theatres, expressways were built. The Algerian independence in 1962 saw the arrival of the Pieds-Noirs, French refugees from Algeria, which boosted the city’s population. In 2001 European leaders signed there the Treaty of Nice, amending the institutions of the European Union.

Museums - Archeological
Nice is home to many important and impressive museums in addition to a number of municipal galleries and a large number of private and contemporary art galleries and artists’ workshops.

There is the impressive site of the Terra Amata, part of the Archaeological Museum of Nice (Musée d’Archéologie de Nice) which has a reconstructed campsite of prehistoric habitants, thus giving you the opportunity to visit a prehistoric habitat. Also part of the Archaeological Museum is the Site de Cimiez. It displays various objects and documents from the life of ancient Cemenelum, the old rival of Nicaea and its exhibits date back to the Neolithic age.

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain) has a large array of collections, which number nearly 1.200 works. Its original architecture and its collection is a testament to the important role that Nice played in the 1960s and 1970s in the field of art.

The Museum of Natural History (Musée d’Histoire Naturelle) was founded in the 19th century and offers an exhibit of flora and fauna of the Maritime Alpes. One can witness the large biodiversity of the region with animals, birds, reptiles and insects.

The Palais Lascaris was once the home of the famous Lascaris-Ventimiglia family. It has a traditional style of the palazzo of Genoa, with baroque style. There is also a collection of musical instruments houses in the Palais Lascaris.

The Villa Masséna is an architectural marvel in a tree-lined setting in the Promenade des Anglais. It presents through guided tours the history of Nice in the 19th century.

The Museum of Fine Arts (Musée des Beaux Arts Jules Cheret) hosts paintings and sculptures that range from the 13th to the 20th century including Van Loo, Fragonard Dufy, Chéret, Impressionists Rodin, and Carpeaux.

The Musée Franciscain is a 17th century fresco-painted monastery and museum that offers an interesting view of the Franciscan life in Nice from the 13th century until this day. Of special interest is the illustration of Saint Francis of Assisi’s spiritual and social message.

The International Museum of Art Naif Anatole Jakovsky (Musée International d’Art Naif Anatole Jakosvky) is located in the former residence of a perfume designer and thanks to sizable donations from Anatole and Renée Jakosvky it now hosts works of Rousseau, Bauchant, Bombois, Rimbert, Séraphine as well as works of painters from Croatia, Haiti, Brazil and other places around the world.

The Musée Matisse is located in a renovated Genoese villa. It houses paintings and drawings that the local artist Matisse produced at the end of his life. It also houses the artist’s personal objects.

The Musée Départemental des Arts Asiatiques was built by the famous Japanese architect Kenzo Tange as an exchange point between Asian and Western cultures. It it built in an artificial lake with marble and glass and houses works of Asian origin from China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia.

Beaches
There are many public and private beaches in Nice, enough to satisfy all tastes!

The beautiful Blue Beach is a public beach between Neptune and Sporting beaches that contains the Blue Beach Restaurant. The Ruhl beach is a public beach as well. It has a beach-restaurant and a number of cafes close enough that one can reach. The Beau Rivage Beach is a busy private beach that offers excellent restaurant choices and cafes close to Nice’s Old Town. The Castel beach is a public beach under the Parc du Chateau. It is a stony beach but the water is often calmer here because the promontory shields it from the eastern winds. Florida Beach, between Poincare and Voilier beaches, includes both a public beach and the private Florida beach and restaurant. The public beach area is a small but wide beach west of the restaurant. The gradual drop-off and gravel at the water's edge make sea access among the easiest in Nice. Voilier beach is a comfortable public beach east of Florida beach and the site of Voilier Plage beach restaurant. Voilier beach is one of the wider beaches on the baie des anges and there's an ample public space east of the private Voilier Plage. While not exactly sandy, the pebbles are smaller and interspersed with more gravel especially near the water line. The beach slopes gently down to the water here making sea access easier than on other beaches.

Far from the crowds on the Promenade, the public beaches of Coco Beach and its neighbours, La ReserveandBain Militaires, provide a tranquil haven for those who don't mind soaking up sun from carved-out rocks. Tiny pebble patches appear infrequently among the giant rock slabs that make up this part of Nice's coast but the views over the baie des anges make the discomfort worthwhile. Plus, the only sounds you'll hear are the seagulls and waves crashing against the rocks. Tourists are few as there are no nearby hotels but this rocky stretch of coast is popular with the locals who live in east Nice.

Religious Monasteries and Churches
Nice is home to various churches. The most important ones are the Sainte-Réparate Cathedral, the Saint-Jacques Church, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, the Notre-Dame de Nice and the Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc Church.

The Sainte-Réparate Cathedral (Basilique-Cathédrale Sainte-Marie et Sainte-Réparate) is located in the Old Town of Nice and was built between 1650 and 1699. it was built on the model of Santa Susanna of Rome. The interior is of baroque style and included ten chapels. It contains three organs.

The Russian Orthodox Cathedral, officially the St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox cathedral of the Patriarchate of Moscow. It is the legal property of the Russian Federation. It opened in 1912 financed by the Tsar Nicholas II and is the largest Russian Orthodox Church in Western Europe. It was consecrated in December 1912 and was meant to serve the large community of Russians that had settled in Nice as well as visitors from the East.

The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Nice is a Roman Catholic basilica of neo-gothic style. It is the largest church in Nice, built between 1864 and 1868. it was built after the annexation of Nice by France in the Gothic style in an attempt to Frenchify the city because Gothic style buildings were considered characteristically French. Its most prominent features are the two square towers which are 65 meters high.

The Church of Saint Joan of Arc was built in 1914 and completed in 1934. It is a Roman Catholic Church, noticeable for its unique architecture. It was built with reinforced concrete and has white colour. It has three large domes and a spacious interior. Its paintings are influenced by Russian Cubism, Italian Quattrocento and Byzantine Orthodox icons.