Nice History
Roman ruins of Arènes Romaines de Cimiez; (c) Eric Coffinet/Wiki Commons
It was given the name of Níkaia in honour of a victory over the Ligurians from northwest of Italy. The name was shortened to Nike (Νίκη), the Greek goddess of victory.
The city soon became one of the busiest trading ports on the Ligurian coast. But t had an important rival in the Roman town of Cemenelum, which continued to exist as a separate city. The ruins of Cemenelum in Cimiez ar now a district of Nice. Later, the city fell under Roman rule, with evidence of this era still visible in the Cimiez district, where the Arènes de Cimiez (Roman Arena) ruins stand today.
Throughout the Middle Ages, Nice belonged to the House of Savoy and more closely aligned with Italy than France, a heritage still evident in the architecture, cuisine, and dialect of the Old Town (Vieux Nice). It would change ownership many times in the centuries ahead.
During the Middle Ages, Nice participated in the wars and history of Italy. As an ally of Pisa it was the enemy of Genoa, and both the King of France and the Holy Roman Emperor endeavoured to subjugate it. During the 13th and 14th centuries the city fell more than once into the hands of the Counts of Provence, but it regained its independence.
The medieval city walls surrounded Vieux Nice. The landward side was protected by the River Paillon. The east side of the town was protected by fortifications on Castle Hill. Another river flowed into the port on the east side of Castle Hill. Under the Monoprix store in Place de Garibaldi are excavated remains of a city gate on the main road from Turin, Italy.
The prominent Garibaldi monument at Place Garibaldi; (c) Soul Of America
The maritime strength of Nice now rapidly increased until it was able to cope with the Barbary pirates; the fortifications were largely extended and the roads to the city improved.
During the struggle between Francis I and Charles V great damage was caused by the passage of the armies invading Provence. In 1538, in the nearby town of Villeneuve-Loubet, through the mediation of Pope Paul III, the two monarchs concluded a ten years’ truce.
In 1600, Nice was briefly taken by the Duke of Guise. Captured by Nicolas Catinat in 1691, Nice was restored to Savoy in 1696; but it was again besieged by the French in 1705.
Old Nice, locally called Vieux Nice; (c) Raymond Morland/UNSPLASH
The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 returned the city to the Duke of Savoy. In the peaceful years which followed, the “new town” was built. From 1744 until the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) the French and Spaniards were again in possession.
After the Treaty of Turin was signed in 1860 between the Sardinian king and Napoleon III, the county was ceded to France for their assistance in the Second Italian War of Independence against Austria. Italian language was officially abolished and replaced by French. Discontent over annexation to France accelerated by Italian unification after 1861. A quarter of Nice population of Nice voluntarily exiled to nearby Ventimiglia, Bordighera and Ospedaletti in Italy.
Giuseppe Garibaldi, born in Nice, strongly opposed the cession to France, arguing that the ballot was rigged by the French. Furthermore, for the niçard general his hometown was unquestionably Italian. Politically, the liberals of Nice and the partisans of Garibaldi did not appreciated Napoleonic authoritarianism. Elements of aristocrats and Garibaldians wanted Nice to return to Italy.
Italian architecture is evident throughout Nice; (c) Cheyenne Martinez/UNSPLASH
In 1871, during the first free elections in the County, the pro-Italian lists obtained almost all the votes in the legislative elections and Garibaldi was elected deputy at the National Assembly. The French government sent 10,000 soldiers to Nice, closed the Italian newspaper Il Diritto di Nizza and imprisoned several demonstrators.
The French government implemented a policy of Francization of society, language and culture. Italian-language newspapers in Nice were banned. During the repression of 1894, the police conducted raids targeting the Italian anarchists.
In 1900, the Tramway de Nice electrified its horse-drawn streetcars and spread its network from Menton to Cagnes-sur-Mer. In the 1930s, Nice hosted international car racing (predecessor to Formula One) on the Circuit Nice waterfront.
As World War II broke out in September 1939, Nice became a city of refuge for many displaced foreigners from into Eastern Europe fleeing the Nazis. From Nice many traveled to French colonies in Morocco, the Caribbean and South America.
In November 1942, Nazi troops moved into most of unoccupied France while their Italian allies moved into Nice. The French resistance gained momentum after the Italian surrender in 1943. Their were many reprisals against Italian prisoners of war and economic disruption through 1945.
Avenue Jean Medicin running through Place Massena at night; (c) Soul Of America
In the second half of the 20th century, Nice enjoyed an economic boom driven by tourism and construction. Jean Médecin, mayor for 33 years from 1928 to 1943 and from 1947 to 1965, and his son Jacques, mayor for 24 years from 1966 to 1990 dominated this era. with extensive urban renewal. These included the convention centre, theatres, new thoroughfares and expressways.
On 16 October 1979, a landslide and an undersea slide caused two tsunamis that hit the western coast of Nice; these events killed between 8 and 23 people.
By the late 1980s, formal accusations of corruption against Jacques Médecin forced him to flee France in 1990.