The
French Riviera, or Côte d'Azur, lies along the Mediterranean coast in southeastern France. Although its exact boundaries are often debated, in general the region is assumed to stretch from Menton in the east on the Italian border west to Hyères or Cassis.
Beginning in the 19th century when the area was a winter playground for European aristocracy, through the 1920s and 1930s when it was home to many of the writers and painters of the Lost Generation, the French Riviera has long drawn notables to its warm climate and clear, beautiful light.
The early history of the Côte d'Azur, however, is marked by a protracted quest for order in the midst of colonising powers, invading armies, and dynastic power struggles. The first nomadic peoples wandered into the south of France in 950,000 BCE, but there was no organised presence until the Greeks began trading in the area in the 7th century BCE.
Predictably, the Greeks were followed by colonising Romans in the 8th century. With the rise of Christianity within the Empire, Saints Nazaire and Celse brought the new religion to the future French Riviera in the 1st century CE. Currently, the oldest extant Christian structure in the Côte d'Azur is the baptistery of Fréjus Cathedral, which dates to the 5th century.
As the Western Roman Empire fell in the face of invading Visigoths, Burgundians, and Ostrogoths, the Dark Ages settled over the south of France and the remainder of Europe. The region endured more incursions in the 9th century at the hands of both the Saracens and Normans.
These centuries of dynastic and foreign struggles culminated in the restoration of a degree of order in 879 with the rise of the Kingdom of Provence, ruled by the Catalan Bosonides (879-1112). True progress toward political stability, however, came with the emergence of the House of Grimaldi in the 13th century.
Descendants of expelled Genoese nobles, the Grimaldis were the ancestors of the current ruler of Monaco, Prince Albert II. The family took power in Monaco, Antibes, and Nice, now the largest city on the French Riviera.
Although Provence itself became a part of France in 1486, the House of Savoy took control of Nice and the surrounding region in 1388. The city and its environs remain separated from Provence until 1860 under Napoleon III.
Though known for producing flowers for the perfume industry and as a centre for fishing and olive production, the French Riviera was not discovered as a travel destination until 1763 when the British author Tobias Smollett visited Nice and subsequently published "Travels Through France and Italy" in 1765.
His comments on the salubrious climate coincided with the rise of climato-therapy made popular by the Scot physician John Brown, who advocated fresh air and sunshine as a cure for, amongst other ailments, tuberculosis.
What had been a remote and fairly impoverished region of France soon became a playground for the British aristocracy, and, with the advent of rail service in 1864, for the nobility of Europe. The reputation of the French Riviera continued to grow throughout the 19th century and to the eve of the First World War, an event that transformed the face of Europe and of the Côte d'Azur forever.
