Riviera (Ree-vee-ay'ra; 'seashore'), a term applied to the narrow strip of coast-land bordering the Gulf of Genoa, strictly from Nice to Spezzia, but generally understood to include the whole coast of the dep. of the Alpes Maritimes, and the Italian coast as far as Leghorn. West of Genoa it is called the Riviera di Ponente, or western coast, and beyond Genoa the Riviera di Levante, or eastern coast. From Hyeres to Genoa is 203 miles; from Genoa to Leghorn, 112. Sheltered on the north by mountains, the district enjoys an exceptionally favoured climate, no other region north of Palermo and Valencia being so mild in winter. The western section is the mildest and most frequented. It abounds in the most striking and beautiful scenery, and is planted with numerous health and fashion resorts - Nice, Monaco, Mentone, Ventimiglia, San Remo, Bordighera, etc.; and west of Nice are Hyeres, Frejus, Cannes, Grasse, Antibes. The famous Corniche (Ital. Cornice) road, widened by Napoleon I., leads along the coast from Nice to Genoa, and commands magnificent views. See guidebooks by Baedeker, Murray (1890), Black (1890), and Macmillan (new ed. 1892); Augustus Hare's Southeastern France (1890), and Miss Dempster's Maritime Alps and their Seaboard (1884).