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Posted on Friday, 9 October 2009 |
 2010 is the city of Nice's 150th birthday. Or to be exact it is the 150th anniversary of Nice being fully and finally reborn into the French Republic. Nice of course is a much more ancient site with evidence present of human remains dating back nearly half a million years but on the 10th June 1860, Nice signed a treaty to become fully and irrevocably French.
Nice, as a city, was founded by the ancient Greeks and went under the name of Nikaia. It has seen many raiding nations come and go from Moors and Saracens to Romans and Ligurians. It has been under the protection of Savoy and ruled by the Counts of Provence, Nice has been French then Italian then French again and there remains a nationalist element who to this day think it should be granted independence, Nice is simply Nicoise.
It has been the sworn enemy and the prosperous jewel of many. King Louis XIV was so embarrassed that his great army couldn't defeat such a miserable corner of land that he waged an expensive 6 month siege on its city walls during the 1700's. It took a constant barrage of cannonball fire on it's impregnable citadel before it finally fell and was claimed in victory to the French King.
Until 1713 when the Treaty of Utrecht returned it to Italy. How and ever, the treaty expired and Nice was peaceably re indoctrinated into the French Republique and there she has remained.
To celebrate the city's fathers have launched 150 projects to celebrate each of her 150 years. The projects, large an small are intended to reflect the city of Nice's history, beauty, dynamism, fluidity and 'verte', her scenery.
The projects are intended to improve the quality of life for the average Nicoise and celebrate the spirit of Nice, culturally, aesthetically and spiritually.
How this translates is thankfully a lot more tangible than the description and the city will see a wave of new parks, renovated architectural treasures, crèches for children and sports grounds for teenagers, traffic routes for commuters and gardens for everyone's pleasure.
No doubt we will also see a few fireworks and maybe there will be dancing in the streets but for now the powers that be will celebrate Nice's 150 year old rebirth with a new renaissance. |
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