Nice tourist information
Patrick Modiano is not at all wrong when he says, "Nice is not a port like Marseilles because there is no transit. It is a part of the world where it seems as if time has stood still". Despite it being the fifth largest town of France, with the second largest airport, Nice sometimes takes on the appearance of a sleeping princess.
At the end of the 19th century, Nice's activities was already mainly orientated towards tourism. It has been trying to create its own identity but this is not always easy with a population that is often very old, cosmopolitan or just passing through.
In order to revive the town's activities, the Municipality has decided to invest its energy into the cultural domain. The Universities of Valrose, Trotabas and Carlone attracts a large student population each year. An equally large amount of richly endowed museums contributes to the renaissance of the town. The following museums are found in Nice : the Masséna Art and History Museum, Modern Art Museum, the Anatole Jakovsky International Art Museum, the Franciscan Museum of Cimez, the Musée des Beaux Art, the Matisse Museum, the Villa Arson and the Musée des Arts Asiatiques. It should not be forgotten that Nice is also the home of many contemporary artists such as César, Yves Klein, Arman and Nikki de Saint-Phalle.
Since 1989, the city has benefited from its theatrical activities. The National Centre of Dramatic Arts of the Côte d'Azur, or still the National Theatre of Nice, offers a programming of quality under the direction of the comedian Jacques Weber. The Opera also reopened its doors during 2000.
But the main activity of Nice is and will always be its tourism industry. The city has been disfigured in many areas due to this craze, from the old quarter bombarded by traders to its concrete beaches.
With its climate, the average temperature is above 10°C all year round, its carnival, cuisine and architectural heritage, Nice is without a doubt a place where people know how to live and enjoy life.
The city has two important historic centres: the Cimiez hill, where the vestiges of Roman occupation can still be seen and the old Nice that is almost completely pedestrian. The rest of the town consists mostly of beautiful old bourgeois buildings of the last century. Very few recent constructions can be seen except at Cimiez and the Lanterne quarter that is know as the " Beverly Hills " of Nice.
It is in Cimez that the Belle Epoque left most of its traces. Certain palaces, built at the foot of the hill, are really impressive: the Winter Palace, the Majestic, the Hermitage, the Regina Palace and the Valrose Château. The Franciscain Monestry found near to the Matisse Museum is also worth a visit.
The old town, that is demarcated by the Hill of the Castle, the Cours Saleya and the Boulevard Jean Jaurès, mostly dates back to the 18th century.
The hill of the castle, a real emerald set in the city, was inhabited up until the 16th century and then abandoned after the construction of the fortress. With its high Italian façades, the old Nice is a real labyrinth of alleys and stepped streets that are sometimes quiet and completely packed at other times. After having made the traditional stops at the Saint Reparate church, the Lascaris Palace, the Cours Saleya and its flower market, the Place Saint François and the Place Garibaldi, you can continue by taking a walk up the hill of the castle to enjoy the excellent view of Nice and its port.
The Place Masséna links the old Nice to the commercial heart of the town, with its arched blocks of flats and red facades all dating back to the 19th century. To get to the beachfront, it is ideal to take a walk through the Albert I gardens. This park has many palm and exotic trees.
From the Promenade des Anglais, the beautiful Belle Epoque architecture of the Negresco Hotel can be admired. Amongst other curiosities, at no.139 a house in the "nouille" style can be found. At the end of the Promenade, the "Rauba Caperu" Point reserves a beautiful view point of Nice and its Port.
The City has come a long way from Nikaia, of the Greeks during the 9th century, to modern day Nice! A journey marked by many conflicts between the Italians and the French to appropriate this highly strategic province.
Already, during prehistory, our ancestors set-up residence near Mount Boron, on the site of Terra Amata. Excavations indicate the presence of almost contemporary human beings of Tautavel. This takes us back some hundred thousand years. During Antiquity, the Greeks of Marseilles created Nikaia, meaning victory, a commercial post and important political centre. It was the Romans who then took over. They imposed their civilisation in the south but also in the rest of France. Abandoning the seaside, considered too difficult to defend, they founded Cemenelum, the current Cimez Hill, where it is easier to survey the port. This colony is thus the administrative centre of the Alps-Maritimes province. To the point of modernity, it had its own amphitheatre, thermal baths and even its own network of central heating by hot air. The ruins of these installations are still visible nowadays. In the year 300, Cemenelum was one of the most civilised capitals of the west.
The fall of the Roman Empire marked the beginning of suffering for Nice. From the 5th to 10th centuries, these clement shores attracted many invaders, barbarians, Saracens and other pirates who often plundered the town and terrorised the local populations.
Peace returned to the city during the 11th century, when the Counts of Provence appropriated the town. In 1388, the inhabitants of Nice and the hinterland refused to accepted the authority of Louis of Anjou, a very powerful count of Provence at the time. The County of Nice had very strong links with Italy except for some minor problems and remained part of Savoy until 1860.
Under the authority of the Counts of Savoy, the city was the main fortified town of the region. Amongst the numerous attacks that the city was victim to at the time, one that should be remembered is the attack of François I and Soliman the Magnificent against the inhabitants of the city in 1543. It was at this occasion that the myth of Catherine Ségurane, a local Joan of Arc, who galvanised the resistance of Nice, was born.
The first works on the Port of Lympia was started in 1748. It later became the commercial development base of Nice. The Place Garibaldi and the first seafront terraces was built in 1750.
Under the first Empire, Savoy was annexed to France and Napoleon Bonaparte took advantage of this to stay over in Nice on two occasions. In 1814, the Treaty of Paris returned the Nice to Sardinia, who was under Savoyard dominion since 1720.
During the 19th century, the commercial activity of Nice was threatened by Genoa, which formed part of the Piémont-Sardaigne realm. It was the English, eternal globe-trotters, who launched Nice's tourist vocation by coming to spend their winters here. It was also an Englishman who constructed the Promenades des Anglais at the same period.
In 1860, after the Italian war, the county was definitely reattached to France. Due to its thriving tourism industry, the town knew a big economic boom. Large amounts of money was soon placed into hotel and residential developments. The Royal families of Europe enjoyed coming to the Riviera. From the Queen Victoria, the Imperial Russian and French families to the Queen of Portugal. It was the Belle Epoque era that left significant architectural traces in the town and the region. Urban growth attracted Italian labour who then populated entire quarters, such as the Madeleine and the Riquier quarters.
After the First World War, Nice started to loose a bit of its charm. Most of its provincial customs are no longer practised and its population is less fortunate than before. It was only in the thirties that the Promenade des Anglais took on its actual look, that is its uninterrupted row of flats.
The German occupation, during the Second World War, completely disfigured the town. The Albert I Gardens had to be entirely redone. The luxurious Casino and the Palais de la Jetée-Promenade was also completely destroyed.
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