French department - Var

Dept. du Var' Steel engraving with original outline hand-colouring., 1856, from Levasseur's Atlas National Illustre. Var covers the heart of the French Riviera or Cote d'Azur., and includes the resort cities of Cannes, Nice and San Tropez, among many others. This area also houses a number of vineyards. Here you will find the AOC Coteaux varois en Provence, which produces a wide variety of reds and whites. The red wines principally use the grenache, cinsaut, mourvedre and syrah grapes. White wines use the clairette, grenache blanc, rolle blanc, S_millon Blanc, and Ugni Blanc. The map proper is surrounded by elaborate decorative engravings designed to illustrate both the natural beauty and trade richness of the land. There is a short textual history of the regions depicted on both the left and right sides of the map. Levasseur was an important French engineer, cartographer, and engraver of the mid 19th century.