Nice is a seventh city located in the southeast of France near the border with Italy, making it a French city with a very unique culture and history from most of the rest of France.
It is a very beautiful Mediterranean city, which unlike most of France is part of the Southern Hemisphere which leads to a different climate to the rest of France as well as very arable that is part of the breadbasket of France. It is a city that for centuries now has been popular with the rich and the now mostly extinct aristocratic classes.
We will be exploring what this rich and vibrant city has to offer in this fabulous trip to Nice, France.
Population of Nice.
According to current population rankings, Nice is ranked seventh in all of France with a population that is slowly but steadily increasing. The city is nestled in the ranking by Lille who is ranked 6th and Nantes that is ranked 8th in all of France.
Despite not being the biggest city in France, it is one of the oldest. Archaeologists have found evidence that shows that the areas of what is now the city have been inhabited by early humans for at least 400,000 years.
The city grew quickly thanks to its strategic location on the Mediterranean that means that a lot of trade passed through the city to the northern rich parts of mainland Europe including France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Great Britain.
This has makes this metropolis the de-facto capital of a part of France known as the French Riviera which attracts a large number of people from the rural areas into the city itself where they can work in the booming industrial and tourism industries.
Notable People from Nice.
A very famous native of this city is Rene Cassin who was a lawyer and judge that is best known for being one of the creators of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which led him to receive the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to humanity and peace on Earth.
After that Cassin also went on to work at the United Nations and was also the president of the European Court of Human Rights from 1965 to 1968.
Furthermore, there is Giuseppe Garibaldi, who is an Italian revolutionary that is credited as the main figure that helped to reunite all of the different Italian states into the one unified country of Italy.
Another famous native is Hugo Lloris who is one of France’s most successful goalkeepers ever, with over one hundred appearances for the French national football team.
History of Nice.
This city has a very long history; historians believe that it was founded by Greek colonists that named the city after the Ancient Greek goddess of Nike as well as the nearby barbarian people known as the Linguarians.
The city was taken over by the Roman Empire and remained part of the Roman Empire until it was taken over by the Lombards in the 6th century.
After that, the city was passed around by a large number of nations such as the Genoese League, There were also failed attempts by the Saracens to take over the city, although the Saracens never took it over they did raze it multiple times.
From 1388 to 1860 the city was part of the Italian state of Savoy while also being for short periods of time taking over by the French. In 1860, the city was given to France as a thanks gift, for French support in the Italian war of independence against Austria.
Geography of Nice.
Your fabulous trip to Nice, France will be perfectly complemented by the beautiful geography hugging this coastal city. The city is built on a very hilly area. It is believed that the city was strategically built here in order to shelter the residents from strong winds. The city was originally founded on the coast and since then, has expanded further up the surrounding hills.
Uniquely, the city is also home to two bays, the Bay of Angels and the Villefranche-sur-Mer bay which is the smaller one out of the two.
These bays are hosts to popular beaches as well as seaports for yachts as well as industrial seaports where large sea tankers arrive and offload their goods. Nice offers the best of both worlds; it has great beaches, hills and is also nearby the French Alps just a few hours of driving away.
Climate of Nice.
The climate of this city is the typical kind of climate that you will find in the French Riviera region which is officially classed as a hot-summer Mediterranean summer. The average temperature throughout the year is 19.6 degrees Celsius, the hottest months are July, August, and September with the temperatures ranging from 24.6 to 27.7 degrees Celsius.
While in the winter months of December, January, and February where the temperature drops to around 13 degrees Celsius on average.
During the winter months, the temperature almost never falls under freezing levels which means that it does not snow in this French city. Although it does rain for an average of 7 days a month during winter.
Throughout June, it is also very cool, with the temperature remaining so until the month of June when the temperatures rise dramatically which is coincided with a large influx of tourists.
Architecture of Nice.
Some of the best architecture can be found here, Nice has been one of the richest cities in the world for hundreds of years now. It is home to breathtaking architecture similar to that of the city-state of Monaco.
One of those great architectural hubs is Cours Saleya which is a neighborhood that is host to a popular market that sells food, flowers, and other forms of products from the surrounding areas of the city, the rest of France and also other countries such as Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.
It is one of the most colorful neighborhoods in the city, with the buildings having vibrant facades that are complemented by the colorful roofs of the market tents.
Furthermore, you have the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church that was funded by Tsar Nicholas the Third and is still owned by the country of Russia today. It features the traditional Russian church design that includes multiple colorful domes and towers. To this day, Nice is home to a very large Russian diaspora and people from Russian ancestry.
Popular Sports in Nice.
One of the reasons why you will have a fabulous trip to Nice, France is that there are a lot of opportunities to enjoy viewing sports being played at the top level as well as partake in those sports yourself at top facilities located in the city.
The biggest and most successful football club in the city is OGC Nice, the team plays in Ligue 1 and is one of the top teams in the country that frequently ranks in the top 10 in the country and has won the Ligue 1 a total of four times.
Furthermore, there are top clubs in other sports such as rugby club Federale 1 and hockey club Nice Hockey Elite. There is also a top swimming club that has produced many top international swimmers. Moreover, the city is one of the hosts of the Paris-Nice cycling competition that takes place every year since 1933.
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