Nice

The historic city:

A walk through the old historic center is a must in this ancient French city. Beneath the mountain and the boulevard, the old center lies with its small baroque alleys, squares and peeling houses.

There is a market and you can enjoy dozens of terraces, cafes and small shops selling very traditional products. In addition to the above, you can also find churches, museums and the best restaurants in this French labyrinth.

In the 4th century BC. the Greeks defeated the Ligurians and found "Nikaia" after the Goddess of victory Nike. It was already a very busy trading place when the Romans also settled in this area just before the turn of the century. When the Roman empire went down, the entire province of "Provence" fell into the hands of the tribe "Ostrogoths".

After it had fallen into French hands, Nice (like many other cities on the Mediterranean coast) joined a Genoese covenant to repell attacks from the Saracens (Muslims) armies. Despite this covenant, the city was often looted by these robbers coming from the sea. It was only when an alliance of French princes was forged that danger could be repelled. A new alliance with the Italian city "Pisa" was closed in 1144 so Genoa became instead of a friend an enemy. The city continued to belong to the county of Nice, in spite of the wish of the king of France and emperor who would like to incorporate the city. Because Genoa became increasingly powerful, it was decided to station a fleet in the city of Nice. 

Louis XIV

It was not until 1691 that Louis XIV took over the county of Nizza (including the city of Nice), which united the city and France. From here Napoleon began his Italian campaign in 1796 and four years later the region was briefly occupied by the Austrian troops. There was a question that the region together with Sardinia would become part of Italy but the French voted against it and were assigned to France. Meanwhile, Nice became a holiday destination especially with "rich" Englishmen. The European nobility also stayed more and more in the city, such as the English queen Victoria and the Russian tsar Nicholas II.

In order to serve these people at their best, more and more Italian guest workers also came to the city. During WWII the city, initially occupied by the Italians and from October 1943 by German troops, was damaged severe. The resistance grouped in the mountains above the city. In the summer of 1976 the cracking of the century took place in the normally very quiet Nice. A gang of thugs broke the vaults of the "Societe Generale" open and went there with 50 million French Francs then off (is now equivalent to about 7.6 million euros).