On the hill north of the city, the suburb of Cimiez is most easily reached from the Boulevard de Cimiez. Here, the Romans built their Cemenelum to compete with rival Greek Nikaia down the road. It is noted for its excavated Roman ruins, including baths and an amphitheatre that is a venue for Nice’s famous Jazz Festival.
Before you climb the hill, don’t miss the Musee Marc-Chagall (Ave Dr Menard; open Wed-Mon; entrance fee; tel:(04) 93 53 87 20), specially designed to house Chagall’s masterpiece, the Messages Bibliques, and the biggest single collection of his work.

At the top of the hill are the Musee d’Archeologie (open Tues-Sun; entrance free; tel:(04) 93 81 59 57), which displays finds from Roman town, and the much more popular Musee Matisse (Open Wed-Mon; entrance fee; tel:(04)93 81 08 08), a 17th-century villa which cunningly conceals a gallery wing beneath. The latter houses Matisse’s personal collection, with works from every period, as well as the vases, shell furniture and Moroccan wallhangings – even the giant cheese plant, which he so often included in his paintings.
Once-fashionable Cimiez still has intimations of empire. The crowned heads of Europe – Britain, Sweden, denmark, Portugal, Belgium and the entire Russian Imperial Family – once wintered up here in nine “palais-hotels” modelled on the ghastly Regina Palace, opened by Queen Victoria in 1897.

In the western suburbs, on the boulevard du Tzarewitch, you can find evidence of the once-thriving Russian colony – the Cathedrale ST-Nicolas, the finest Russian Orthodox church outside the motherland. Its five green-and-gold onions domes pleased Tsar Nicholas II himself. Services are held in Russian