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| FRANCE | FRANCE |
| région: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | |
| département: 6, Alpes-Maritimes |
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Menton (in Italian: Mentone) is situated at the French Riviera close to the Italian border, about 20 km east-northeast of Nice, the ministrative seat of the département Alpes-Maritimes, and about 178 km east-northeast of Marseille, the capital of the région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The municipality has a population of about 30,600 (2023).
Menton has always been a frontier town. Since the end of the 14th century, it has been on the border between the County of Nice, held by the Duke of Savoy, and the Republic of Genova. Acquired in 1346 by the lords of Monaco, it was an exclave of the Principality of Monaco. In 1848, Menton, along with its neighbour Roquebrune, seceded from Monaco, due at least in part to a tax imposed on lemon exports. Two years later they placed themselves under the protection of the Italian kingdom of Sardinia where they were administered by the House of Savoy for ten years. The Treaty of Turin of 1860 between the Kingdom of Sardinia and France called for the annexation of the County of Nice to France, subject to a plebiscite, as a reward for French assistance in Italy's war against Austria. By the end of the 19th century, tourism was an important factor in Menton's growth. The town was popular with British and Russian aristocrats who built many of the hotels, villas, and palaces which still grace Menton today. Menton was the only sizable settlement captured by Italy during its invasion of France in June 1940. Following the armistice of 22 June 1940, two-thirds of the territory of the commune was annexed by Italy. Although officially returned to Vichy France in 1943, Menton was in fact occupied by Nazi Germany until its liberation by American and Canadian troops in 1944. until the disputed French plebiscite of 1860 when it was added to France. It had been always a fashionable tourist centre with grand mansions and gardens. Its temperate Mediterranean climate is especially favourable to the citrus industry, with which it is strongly identified.
The 
Basilique Saint-Michel-Archange [background centre, barely visible] is the parish
church of Menton. Built from 1639 until ca. 1653, the church is an outstanding example of the city's baroque architecture
and can be reached from the sea via a staircase leading to an elegant square overlooking the landscape below. The bell tower
was designed in 1701, while the façade with Baroque features dates from 1819. In 1999 the church received the status
of a basilica minor.
(See also list of other basilicae minores depicted on glasses of this collection.)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menton, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menton;
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St-Michel-Archange_(Menton)]
![[scale]](lineal.jpg)