NICE

NICE (Ital. Nizza, anc. Nicæa), a seaport-town of the Sardinian States, capital of the province and administrative division of the same name, is built on a small plain between the Alps and the Mediterranean, 96 miles S. by W. of Turin. It is traversed by the River Paglione, and consists of three parts, one of which, called the Quartier de la Croix de Marbre, stands to the W. of the Paglione, and is the principal residence of strangers in Nice. This part of the town derives its name from a marble cross, built here to commemorate the reconciliation of Charles V. and Francis I. in 1538, through the intervention of Pope Paul III. Near this cross stands an obelisk in memory of the two visits of Pius VII. in 1809 and 1814. In this quarter of Nice there is also a large public square, surrounded with fine buildings, and a handsome quay, which runs along the side of the river. The other two parts of the town stand on the E. side of the Paglione, and are separated from each other by a hill of limestone 800 feet high, which formerly had a castle on the summit, but is now laid out in public walks commanding a wide and beautiful prospect. Between the river and the castle-hill is the old town, consisting of several streets of no great breadth, and including, close under the hill, a dirty locality, which is the oldest part of the whole town. The quarter of the port on the other side of the castle-hill is chiefly inhabited by seafaring people, and was once a mean and crowded place, but it has recently been much improved. The harbour is small, but capable of admitting vessels drawing 15 feet of water, and is protected by two moles, one of which has at its extremity a lighthouse and battery. The entrance is difficult in stormy weather, and it is not well adapted for a harbour of refuge. The public buildings of Nice are by no means remarkable; the principal is the cathedral, an edifice in the common Italian style of the seventeenth century. There are numerous other churches, but none of them are of any great architectural merit. The national college (which has a botanic garden), the public library and zoological museum, the theatre, baths, convents, and hospitals, complete the list of the important public institutions of the town. The climate of Nice has been much praised, and although its advantages may perhaps have been exaggerated, there can be no doubt that it is remarkable for its mildness and salubrity. It is subject to no sudden variations of temperature; the changes of season occur with considerable regularity, and the differences in heat from one month to another rarely exceed 2° or 3° Fahrenheit. The mean temperature of the spring at Nice is about 64°; of the summer, about 74°; of the autumn, about 55°; and of the winter, about 50°; while the greatest heat in summer is rarely above 84°, and the cold in winter seldom below 32°. The clearness of the atmosphere during the most part of the year is one of the greatest advantages of the place; but the cold blasts of the vent de lise, as it is called, which prevails in February, are both disagreeable and injurious to invalids. The town contains several silk, cotton, paper, and oil mills; and there are also manufactures of tobacco, snuff, perfumery, soap, leather, &c. The trade of the place is in these articles, and in wine, oranges, and other fruits. The number of vessels that entered the port in 1846 was 2609; tonnage, 155,764; those that cleared in the same year, 2583; tonnage, 153,635. Nice was originally founded by the Phœcians of Marseilles, and fortified by them against the native Gallic tribes. For a long time it remained subject to its parent city; and even after both were included in the Roman empire, Nice was still in a subordinate position, and does not seem to have attained to any importance under the Roman sway. The ancient town did not occupy precisely the same site as the modern; but stood further up the mountains, where there are some remains both of this town and of Cemenelium (the modern Cimies). In the middle ages Nice was

the capital of a small independent county, and at that time it stood on the left bank of the river, close round the foot of the castle-hill. It afterwards came into the possession, first of the counts of Provence, and then of the kings of Naples; and was sold in the end of the fourteenth century by Ladislaus to Amadeus VII. of Savoy, in whose house it still remains. The town has been taken several times by the French, and was annexed by them to the republic, and made the capital of the department of the Maritime Alps in 1791; but it was restored to Sardinia in 1814.

The administrative division, of which Nice is the capital, is bounded on the N. by Piedmont, from which it is separated by the Alps; E. by the division of Genoa; S. by the Mediterranean; and W. by France. The higher parts of the mountains in the north are covered with forests of excellent timber trees, and the lower slopes and valleys, though unfit for cultivation, afford excellent pasturage. Towards the south the soil is fertile, and produces maize, barley, and wheat; besides olives, figs, grapes, oranges, and other fruits. Cattle are reared to a considerable extent; bees are also kept; and there are good fisheries along the coast. The climate is mild and dry, being sheltered from the north winds by the Alps. It is divided into three provinces, as follows:—

The town of Nice is remarkable as the birth-place of Massena, one of the most famous of Napoleon's generals. Pop. 33,811.