Representative of a "resort on the riviera", Nice joined the Unesco World Heritage list on Tuesday. A news which consecrates the architecture of the city on the Riviera, as Christian Estrosi, the city councilor, welcomed. With its weapons, including "the mild winter climate and the exoticism of the vegetation", the city has carved out a prominent place for itself in French tourism.

The city of Nice was classified Tuesday as a Unesco World Heritage site under the title of "city of the Riviera winter resort" for its architectural, landscape and town planning heritage shaped by 200 years of cosmopolitan history from the end 18th century.

"The history of Nice, both rooted and open, Mediterranean and Alpine, European and cosmopolitan, has produced a unique architecture and landscape, a model for a large number of other cities in the world", welcomed the Mayor Christian Estrosi.

"This inscription establishes Nice as the archetype of the winter resort of the Riviera with its exceptional site, between sea and mountains, and the various influences which have shaped its heritage", greeted the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot on Twitter.

Nice is now a UNESCO ambassador!

It is the French tourist, cultural and heritage model which shines today with its inscription in # PatrimoineMondial @ UNESCO_Fr @ VilledeNicepic.twitter.com / ZAod39E88h

- France at UNESCO (@France_UNESCO) July 27, 2021

Nice, "winter capital"

Until the dawn of the 19th century, Nice was an old village in the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia framed by a hill with a destroyed castle and the Paillon river.

The travel accounts of the Scottish writer Tobias Smollett, published around 1766, then put it in fashion and in particular captivated the English public.

A new town then developed to become a veritable "winter capital" for wealthy idlers, rentiers and aristocrats, before 1850, where parks and walks were set up to enjoy the outdoors.

Exotic species, such as palm trees or orange trees, will populate the peeled land.

Very touristy coastline

"From the end of the 18th century, Nice was the first site of this coast, known until then not very hospitable and difficult to access, on which a winter resort activity developed. It is therefore in Nice. that were first discovered the attractions of what will become the Riviera in the later sense of the term: the particular picturesque landscapes resulting from the proximity of the mountain and the sea, the mild winter climate, the exoticism of the vegetation and even, to a certain degree, the singularity of the ways of life of the natives ", recalled the city in a press kit.

First representative of this "riviera resort", Nice welcomes at the end of the 19th-early 20th century some 150,000 residents in winter, from all origins - from the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, then from all over the world. 'Europe and America. The result is a superb architectural heritage still visible today, hotels, villas, buildings intended for rental.