Nice is one of the most iconic and certainly popular cities on the French Riviera. The facts about Nice stretches far back, and over the course of many thousand years, it has been able to establish its reputation both in France and over the world.
Nice has quickly turned into a large city, in fact, the largest city on the French Riviera which many tourists who visit the French Riviera has as their natural choice of a hub for exploring the south of France. It is known for its iconic Promenade des Anglais, its enormous beach that stretches many kilometers, its picturesque buildings, and much more.
In this article, we’re presenting all the facts about Nice you may know about, and we’ll certainly be presenting a lot of facts about Nice that you had no idea about.
Interesting facts about Nice, France
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Nice is located near Italy, and being close to Italy through history has, of course, made its mark on Nice. Experts even say that it has had a significant influence over Nice.
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Italian is spoken all around the city of Nice.
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Italian is taught in schools alongside English.
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Nice offers a large selection of Italian dishes.
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-With all of these facts about Nice in mind, it’s clear that this city is and has through history been influenced by Italy.
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The city of Nice was founded in the 4th century BC by the Greeks – around 350 BC to be precise.
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Here’s one of the facts about Nice which you can brag with: The city was called Nice to honor Nike, the goddess of victory since people believed that the goddess had helped them resist an attack by the Ligures.
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Nice is one of the cities in France rich has the highest number of museums.
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The beaches of Nice are rocky, which, among tourists is considered both positive and negative. Some people hate it and others love it. You don’t get sand between your toes, however, laying on the beach is very hard.
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The most famous hotel in Nice is Negresco Hotel. The hotel has 121 rooms and 24 suites. The iconic pink dome of Negresco was carved in the workshop of Gustave Eiffel himself.
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It is said that the iconic pink dome of Negresco which Gustave Eiffel carved was modeled based on the bust of the woman he was in love with.
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The hotel Negresco in Nice has one of the world’s largest carpets, taking up an area of 375 sq. m. It is said that the carpet cost around 10 percent of what the entire hotel is worth. The carpet of hotel Negresco was weaved in 1615 AD.
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Phoenix Park Floral in Nice has Europe’s largest greenhouse, hosting 2,500 different plant species.
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The museum of Henri Matisse can be found in Nice. Here, you’ll be able to adore many of his works.
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Here’s one of the facts about Nice that few people know about: Henri Matisse lived his whole live in Nice and he was also buried here. The house in which he lived is now the museum where his paintings are showcased.
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The airport of Nice, the Nice Côte d’Azur Airport is ranked as one of the world’s top ten airports with stunning views, both during take-off and landing, due to it being situated right along the Mediterranean.
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The most popular wine type in Nice is rosé. This fact about Nice is maybe not that strange considering the fact that the French Riviera is known for its rosé all over the world. It’s acceptable to drink rosé whenever without anyone looking weirdly at you.
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The city of Nice was a popular place for Queen Victoria, who sometimes came to Nice with her donkey.
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The first tourists coming to Nice came almost 400,000 years ago.
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Archeological digs on the hill above the Nice port found that transient cave-dwellers temporarily settled there, returning once a year to hunt woolly mammoths.
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Many artists, writers, and composers have found their way to Nice, inspired by its stunning scenery, weather, and atmosphere.
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There are at least 4 million tourists visiting the city of Nice every year.
Basic facts about Nice
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Nice has a population of 343,895.
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The city has an area of 278 square kilometers or 278 square miles.
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Nice is called as Nice la Belle, which simply translates to ”Nice the beautiful”
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Nice is situated on the south-east coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea.
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Nice is called the capital of Alpes Maritimes department in France.
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It is the second largest city on the Mediterranean coast and in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region.
More facts about Nice
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The oldest restaurant in Nice is La Mason Baral, which opened in 1892.
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The oldest hotel in Nice is Hotel Negresco, which opened in 1913.
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In 1912, Monica Rondelly wrote an unofficial anthem for Nice.
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Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse.
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One of the most iconic facts about Nice is that the Promenade des Anglais is the most iconic venue in the city.
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The University of Nice Sophia Antipolis was founded in 1965.
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The iconic Promenade des Anglais stretches a whopping 7km (4,3mi)
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The Promenade Des Anglais means ”Promenade of the English”.
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The Promenade Des Anglais was built by the English aristocracy in 1820, therefore the promenade’s name.
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The English aristocracy used Nice as a winter resort to enjoy warmer climate during the cold winters, and to go for nice walk along the shore.
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Nice was reluctantly given to France by the Italian in 1860 as a gift for helping them defend themselves from the Austrians. An interesting fact about Nice and this is that this is the reason why both French and Italian is spoken in Nice, and why the culture, lifestyle, food, and much more showcases both Italian and French heritage.
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According to history, Nice was dominated by different countries.
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Nice is located right next to the Mediterranean sea, which provides it with stunning sea views of the azure blue waters
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Many famous people have lived in Nice for some time, such as Picasso, F Scott Fitzgerald, Cocteau, and Paganini.
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The dominion of Savoy took control over the town but from 1792 till 1815, it was a part of France. The town was then given to Piedmont-Sardinia, but In 1860, it was returned to France.
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The Cathedrale Sainte-Reparate is the oldest church in Nice. The church was founded in 1200’s.
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The Conservatory of Nice was founded in 1916.
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The public library of Nice was founded in 1790.
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The electric tramway began operating in 1900.
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The name of the city was changed to Pizza during the Italian occupation of the city, but it was then changed back in 1860, when the city became part of France.
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Nice has the best weather from June to October. July is the warmest month of the year in Nice.
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The Paillon River distinctly separates Nice’s new town to the west from the old town.
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There are many celebrities which have homes in Nice and around it. This includes celebrities such as Elton John, Tina Turner, Keith Richards and Bono to name a few.
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Nice has more traffic lights than any other city in the whole of France.
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After Paris Orly and Paris Charles de Gaulle airports, Nice is the biggest airport in France.
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Nice airport is the biggest airport on the French Riviera.
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A cannon fires from Castle hill every day at noon. This is a tradition that was started by Thomas Coventry. This was an Englishman who insisted on having a cannon fired off at 12 ó clock sharp.
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Every year, Nice hosts a carnival at about the middle of February. The history of this festival stretches far back to 1294, the Middle Ages.
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The people of Nice are called Niçoise (yes, like the salad).
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The Niçoise have their own French dialect called Nissart.
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In 2015, over 11 million tourists came to visit Nice, Cote Azur.
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The Port of Nice was created in the 18th century.
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Nice county of Nice was an independent state until it joined France in 1860.
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Some people believe that Nice used to be in Italy, but the fact is that Nice has never been in Italy. In fact, it belonged to the kingdom of Sardinia. Then, when Sardinia became part of Italy, Nice separated from it.
Did you know any of these facts about Nice from before? Which facts about Nice were most surprising and which were completely new to you?
We’d love to hear about it below in the comment section!
