Nice
According to abbreviationfinder, Nice is a city on the French Mediterranean coast, in the arched Baie des Anges at the foot of the foothills of the Maritime Alps, 343,000 residents (agglomeration 1 million residents);Catholic bishopric, university (founded 1965), art college, numerous museums; Observatory (on Mont Gros); Theatre. Nice is one of the most important French seaside resorts and the metropolis of the Côte d’Azur with strong tourism; Carnival festivals, international folklore festivals, international book festivals, etc.; Market for the floriculture area of the surrounding area; Electromechanical, clothing, photo and food industries (olive oil production, canned vegetables and fruit, jams), graphic arts, perfume industry, plastics processing and distilleries. Passenger port (ferry to Corsica), hovercraft operate to Cannes, Saint-Raphaël, Saint Tropez and San Remo; some fishing; international Airport. The Sophia-Antipolis technology park near Nice (one of the largest in Europe with 30,000 jobs).
Attractions
In the old town (Vieux Nice) with its picturesque streets and mostly narrow buildings are the Sainte-Réparate cathedral (17th century) as well as churches and palaces from the 17th and 18th centuries. The boulevard “Promenade des Anglais” runs along the coast with representative palaces (including a casino, Hôtel Negresco) and the Villa Masséna with a museum (including empirical furniture, paintings by French impressionists). Other important museums: Musée des Beaux-Arts or Musée Chéret (French painting from the 17th to 20th centuries, tapestries, Italian faience), Musée Matisse (including works from all creative periods by H. Matisse), Archaeological Museum, Marc Chagall National Museum (with Chagall’s donated works to the »Message Biblique«: drafts, gouaches, mosaics, tapestries on biblical themes), the newly built Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (1990, by Bayard & Vidal) and the Museum of Asian Art (1996, by K. Tange). On the castle hill in the east of the city there are few remains of the former fortress and cathedral of Nice (blown up in 1706 by order of Louis XIV). In the district of Cimiez there are remains from Roman times; The amphitheater (1st and 3rd century AD; 5,000 seats) and the thermal baths (beginning of the 3rd century) are well preserved.
History
Nice, the ancient Nikaia, was a colony of Phocian Greeks from Massalia (now Marseille) in the 6th century BC. Founded; diocese since the beginning of the 4th century. From 970 Nice belonged to the county of Provence, but was able to achieve its independence in the middle of the 12th century (1166 alliance with Genoa). In 1388 it placed itself under the protection of Savoy to avoid the threat from Provence. The city and county had been contested between France, Savoy and Spain since the 16th century (sieges 1543, 1629, 1638, 1691, 1707). In 1793 Nice came under French rule; the county of Nice became the Alpes-Maritimes department. In 1814 the area had to be returned to Savoy. After a referendum in 1860, it finally fell to France.
On July 14, 2016, an assassin raced on the “Promenade des Anglais” in a truck into a crowd that had gathered there on the occasion of the French national holiday. At least 85 people were killed and more than 300 injured in the terrorist attack. The allegedly Islamist-motivated assassin, a Tunisian living in France, was killed in an exchange of fire with the police.
