Thursday, August 09, 2007

Cannes, Cote d'Azur







Cannes (pronounced /kan/) (Provençal Occitan: Canas in classical norm or Cano in Mistralian norm) is a city and commune in southern France, located on the Riviera, in the Alpes-Maritimes département and the région of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur. Cannes lies on the Côte d'Azur within easy reach of the Maritime Alps. It is noted for its gorgeous sandy beaches which are mainly open to the public for a fee, particularly as one moves west to Cannes La Bocca.

In the Middle Ages Cannes was a feudal depency of the Lérins monastery. Until the early 19th century, Cannes remained a small agricultural and fishing village with the highest density of population on Le Suquet hill. Beginning in the 1830s, foreign and French aristocrats built holiday homes in the area, gradually turning Cannes into a resort town.

The man responsible for Cannes' growth is Lord Henry Peter Brougham (1778–1868). A respected and talented British politician in his time, he discovered Cannes in 1834 on his way to Italy. Having bought land to the west of the Suquet hill, now the entrance to the city, Brougham used his many contacts in French politics to help develop the rest.

The development of the coastal village encouraged enterprise and a tramway, the Tramway de Cannes opened in 1899, Cannes Station opened in 1863.

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