δA² Evocations

Prom's history

The road of France to Magnan

Model : Cici

Second empire dress and painting by Jules Defer, 1865

Around the middle of the seventeenth century and again in the early nineteenth century, rich English come to Nice during the winter to enjoy the mild climate.
In 1822, one of these residents, the Reverend Lewis Way, had a dirt road built to facilitate sea-side walks, the air of which was said to have beneficial effects on health, and on the other hand to combat the misery by employing local workers.
Completed in 1824, this road stretched from the Paillon district to today's Meyerbeer street and was named Strada del Littorale ⁽¹⁾ before being quickly renamed the camel of the Ingles ⁽²⁾ by the Niçois, name which became the Promenade des Anglais and remained it until our days.

Then planted with trees and shrubs, this path was extended in width and extended to the district of Magnan in 1856.
The painter Jules Defer ⁽³⁾, who lived in Paris before settling in Nice in 1863, immortalized this Route de France to Magnan in a painting painted in 1865 and preserved at the Massena Museum in Nice.
The Promenade des Anglais became over time the center of worldly life, lined with many buildings with very eclectic styles.

⁽¹⁾ The coastal alley, in Italian
⁽²⁾ The path of the English, in nissarte language.
⁽³⁾ 1803 - 1902