The Western Roman Empire disappeared in 476. For 8 centuries, Nice followed the vicissitudes of Provence, shaken by the family rivalries of its successive nobility, exhausted by the multiple invasions of the Goths, Francs, Saxons and Sarrasins.
In 813, the latter ravaged Nice and pillaged the coast, for 150 years. Only the destruction of their base in 972 by the Count of Provence, Guillaume le libérateur, enabled to region to live again.

The creation of the port of Villefranche made the coast safer and encouraged marime exchanges. Nice became a sought after land by the Italian states, notably Genoa and Pisa. Nice spread beyond its ramparts ; craftsmen, merchants and friars settled at the foot of the rock. This expansion enabled Nice to reach ten thousand inhabitants at the beginning of the 14th century and gradually took on the structure of the old city as we know it today.

At the death of Queen Jeanne of Provence, rivalities worsened and led to a civil war between the d'Anjou and de Naples dynasties. It added to the black plague of 1348, and the adversity of the nobility and soldiers who held the region to ransom. Nice wasin distress. The rural exodus ruined the mountain areas. Making skillful use of the international crisis, a feodal family of Genoan origine, the Grimaldi gave Nice and part of its back country to another ambitious nobleman, the Count of Savoy Amédée VII, considered the most capable of defending it. This " withdrawal " of 1388 was to link the destiny of Nice and the surrounding countrysides to Savoy until 1860.


Old City
During your walk through the streets of the old city, observe above certain shop entrances the " pointed arches " reminders of the medieval age and its gothic art. They have been carefully restored, in particular in the rues Pont-Vieux et de la Préfecture.