MENTONE, rinTh-t 5'nfi, Fr. MENTON, n5N'trIN'. A seaport town in the Department of Alpes-Maritimes, France, on the Mediterranean.
19 miles northeast of Nice Ily rail (Map; France, (I 8). It is situated on two small bays known respectively as Bale de l'Ouest and italic dc (1aravan, divided by a point of land front which juts the breakwater inclosing the harbor. On the north is a sheltering range of lofty mountains.
the lower slopes of which are covered with orange, lemon, and olive groves. and dotted with pic turesque villas and elegant residenecs. The in (dosed situation of the town. dry and equable climate. and other natural advantages Men tone one 111 the most popular of invalid on the Riviera. The old portion of the town re tains a mediaeval aspect, with h it s narrow', winding streets; the newer portion is regularly laid out and clean. The prominent buildings are the churches of Saint Miehel (sevent4.enth century) and of the Conception; the Hotel de Ville has an interesting museum of prehistoric relics. Other notable features are the Jardin Public and the Promenade du Midi. The chief point of interest, however, is in the grottoes of BaoussO Rousse near by, in Italian territory, where Riviere discovered relies of very ancient human oeell tion and skeletons of a later race in the Nine skeletons in all were found. and with them
pierced shells and milk teeth of deer, formerly portions of personal ornaments; but more prising is the fact that the bones were painted with red ochre'. In the general stratum beneath occurred stone implements of Paleolithic type. This fact, and the entire absence of implements of bone, pierced shells, and teeth of deer from the lower beds, leaves the impression of two periods of occupation. Mentone has an extensive trade in fruit and olive oil. After belonging for 500 years to Monaco. the town revolted in 1848, and attached itself to Sardinia. With the cession of Nice to France in 1861, Mentone came under French rule. the Prince of Monaco ceding his ' rights to the French Government for 4,000,000 francs. Consult: Mortillet, Le prehistorume (Paris, 1900), and Bulletins de la Societe d'.1n thropologie de Paris, ser. 4, vol. ix. (Paris. 1898).