Cette fusion annuelle: cosmopolitanism and identity in Nice,c. 1815–1860

Abstract

Between 1815 and 1860, Nice became one of Europe's leading health and leisure resorts, annually hosting an international wintering population of thousands. During a period marked by the rise of the nation-state and national sentiment, Nice was celebrated as 'une ville cosmopolite'. This article suggests that while geographic, historic and economic factors provided preconditions for cosmopolitanism, Nice's emergence as a peculiarly cosmopolitan town in the first half of the nineteenth century owes much to a combination of forward-looking urban developments and long-established traditions of face-to-face elite sociability, directed and shaped largely by women.L'image de Nice cosmopolite, Nice, lieu de villégiature et de plaisir, constitue déjà un clichéà la Belle Epoque. 1