SAN AMPELIO, BORDIGHERA ” 274 From a photograph by Alinari. ARCHES IN STREET, BORDIGHERA ” 276 From a photograph by J. Giletta. CERIANA ” 279 From a photograph by G. Brogi. BUSSANA ” 280 From a photograph by J. Giletta. ALBENGA ” 293 From a photograph by Alinari. SAVONA ” 301 From a photograph by Alinari. POPE SIXTUS IV ” 304 From an old engraving. PREFACE THIS little book has for its object to interest the many winter visitors to the Ligurian coast in the places that they see. A consecutive history of Provence and Genoese Liguria was out of the question; it would be long and tedious. I have taken a few of the most prominent incidents in the history of the coast, and have given short biographies of interesting personages connected with it. The English visitor calls the entire coast—from Marseilles to Genoa—the Riviera; but the French distinguish their portion as the Côte d’Azur, and the Italians distinguish theirs as the Riviera di Ponente. I have not included the whole of this latter, so as not to make the book too bulky, but have stayed my pen at Savona. [Illustration: GOD’S CANDELABRA] THE RIVIERA CHAPTER I PROVENCE Montpellier and the Riviera compared—The discovery of the Riviera as a winter resort—A district full of historic interest—Geology of the coast—The flora—Exotics—The original limit of the sea—The formation of the _craus_—The Mistral—The olive and cypress—Les Alpines—The chalk formation—The Jura limestone—Eruptive rocks—The colouring of Provence—The towns and their narrow streets—Early history—The Phœnicians—Arrival of the Phocœans—The Roman province—Roman remains—Destruction of the theatre at Arles—Visigoths and Burgundians—The Saracens—When Provence was joined to France—Pagan customs linger on—Floral games—Carnival—The origin of the Fauxbourdon—How part-singing came into the service of the church—Reform in church music—Little Gothic architecture in Provence—Choirs at the west end at Grasse and Vence. WHEN a gambler has become bankrupt at the tables of Monte Carlo, the Company that owns these tables furnish him with a railway ticket that will take him home, or to any distance he likes, the further the better, that he may hang or shoot himself anywhere else save in the gardens of the Casino. On much the same principle, at the beginning of last century, the physicians of England recommended their consumptive patients to go to Montpellier, where they might die out of sight, and not bring discredit on their doctors. As Murray well puts it:—