The name of the town of Cannes comes from the word for reed cane, since its lower part was once a marsh. The earliest known settlement in the area dates back to ancient Rome (around the 2nd century BCE) and was found on the Suquet hill, which overlooks the city (this makes Cannes remind me a bit of Lyon, which also began as a Roman settlement at the top of a hill and only later “slid” down toward the river).

Legend has it that during the 5th century, Cannes suffered a plague of snakes. At the time, a man named Honoratus, later canonized as Saint Honorat (350-429), lived nearby. When he heard about the great suffering the snakes were causing the local residents, he climbed a palm tree and prayed to God to save the people of Cannes.

Shortly after Honoratus finished his prayer, a huge wave suddenly arrived and swept all the snakes out of the town. As a sign of gratitude, Honoratus decided to build a monastery on one of the islands facing the coast of Cannes, which would later be named after him: Île Saint-Honorat.

From that moment on, the palm branch became a symbol of Cannes, along with two fleurs-de-lys, representing the city’s loyalty to the French crown (unlike Nice, which belonged to the House of Savoy for most of its history). Today, that palm branch is familiar to every film lover thanks to the Palme d’Or award, but before we get to that, there’s still plenty of interesting history to cover 🙂

In the late 9th century, the Saracens arrived in the area, Muslim invaders who conquered much of the region and remained there for about 100 years. It was monks living on the Îles de Lérins, facing the coast of Cannes, who eventually reconquered the town. In 1035, after retaking the area, the monks built a castle on top of the Suquet hill and began constructing towers on the Îles de Lérins themselves.

The monks ruled Cannes until the 16th century, when the residents of the small village decided they would rather be part of the Kingdom of France. And so, despite repeated attempts at conquest during the 18th century, both by England and by Spain, the area remained French.

Cholera turns Cannes into a sought-after resort town

Whenever we talk about something sad or unpleasant, and my mother wants to change the subject, she always pulls out an old and amusing Russian saying: “Let’s change the subject and talk about something more optimistic, like the cholera epidemic in Odessa.”

Whether or not Russian humor makes you laugh, or you’re now staring at this text in puzzlement, one thing isn’t up for debate: even tragedies can have unexpected, positive outcomes.

To understand how, we need to go back to the 1830s. Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868), a prominent British politician and one of the key figures behind the abolition of the slave trade, decided to take a vacation.

As a poet once joked, the people of London may be perfectly healthy, but it’s the London sun that could use a doctor. So the distinguished lord decided to go enjoy some real sun on the Italian peninsula instead. But during the long journey from England to Nice, which at the time belonged to the Italian House of Savoy, a cholera outbreak struck, claiming many lives across Europe.

As a result, when the esteemed lord approached Nice, he discovered that the authorities were refusing to let foreigners into the city for fear of contagion. Since going back to England and giving up on the sun the English so love wasn’t a realistic option, Lord Brougham decided to check whether there were other options nearby, and so he arrived in Cannes.

At the time, Cannes was nothing more than a small fishing village, and there wasn’t a single hotel fit to host so distinguished a lord. Henry had to make do with a fairly modest inn, but despite the less than ideal start, he fell in love with the place in no time.

The lord decided to come back and settle in Cannes, only this time he would stay in a proper building rather than a shabby inn. Since no such house existed in Cannes, he decided to build one and name it after his daughter, Eléonore-Louise. Sadly, by the time the first stone was laid in 1835, his daughter had already passed away, and the house became a kind of memorial to her.

An English couple walking along the Cannes promenade in the late 19th century. Image generated using Midjourney.

His daughter’s death didn’t stop the lord from living in the grand building, which was completed in 1839, and he began inviting friends over from England. Many of those who came to visit fell in love with the place as well and decided to build equally lavish villas of their own.

In no time, the small, modest fishing village was “flooded” with grand villas in all sorts of styles, and along with them came flowers and plants that longtime Cannes residents had never seen before (for example, eucalyptus trees, which also made their way to us, along with mimosa flowers and palm trees). After the grand villas came the grand hotels, many of them right on the promenade.

Lord Brougham died in Cannes at age 89 and was honored greatly both in life and in death. If you walk around Cannes, you’ll find a statue of him in the city center, and his tomb stands out in the town’s cemetery. His house was abandoned during World War II and later divided into several apartments, so sadly, it’s not possible to visit it today.

The Cannes Film Festival

The fact that Cannes became a glamorous resort town starting in the second half of the 19th century made it a natural place to host a film festival. After all, what represents glamour better than actors and actresses dressed in designer clothes? That said, the history of the Cannes Film Festival is not quite as simple as you might think.

The very first film festivals were actually held in Venice, starting in the 1930s. At that time, Italy was ruled by the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who, together with Hitler, interfered with the festival’s content and the films shown there.

In response, France decided to produce an alternative film festival, announcing it would take place in Cannes on September 20, 1939. However, on September 1 of that year, German forces invaded Poland, World War II began, and nobody was really in the mood to watch movies, so the festival was canceled (not before a preview screening of “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” took place).

bestentours, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1945, after World War II ended, Philippe Erlanger (1903-1987), who had initiated the original Cannes festival, proposed to the French government that it be relaunched, hoping that this time no war would break out to stop it again.

The government, seeing such a festival as an excellent way to bring tourism back to the French Riviera, agreed, and on September 20, 1946, the first festival took place. Since the town of Cannes had been hit hard economically by the lack of tourism during World War II, the money to fund the festival was raised from the general public, who were happy to contribute.

Since there was no dedicated building for the festival in Cannes at the time, it was held at the Winter Casino, with 18 countries taking part. During the first festival, 9 awards were given out, and the top prize went to the film “Rome, Open City” by Roberto Rossellini (1906-1977).

If you thought that was the end of the festival’s troubles, you’d be wrong. The economic situation in Europe in general, and in France in particular, caused the festival to be canceled twice (in 1948 and in 1950). But with Europe’s economic recovery, thanks to the Marshall Plan, the festival got back on track, and since 1951 it has been held every year (with the exception of the Covid period).

As the number of people attending the festival kept growing, it was decided to move it from September to April. In 1952, the festival got its current building (a rather ugly one, it must be said), and in 1955 the famous “Palme d’Or” award of the Cannes Film Festival was created.

Throughout the 1950s, thanks to its growing success, the festival became the most prestigious and respected film festival in the world, a title it still holds today. These days, around 30,000 people attend the festival each year (a hundred times more than at the first festival). If you’d like to be one of those 30,000 people who come to the festival, feel free to check out the official Cannes Film Festival website for the latest program updates.

Cholera turns Cannes into a sought-after resort town

The Cannes Film Festival

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