Castle Hill was chosen by the Phocaean Greeks to establish the founding trading post of the city of Nice. It became the first place of residence of the ancient Nikaïa before being home to the first medieval city of Nice until the Niçois gradually came down to settle in what is now the Old Nice. It sheltered in its southern part a fortress that dominated the bay and the pond of Lympia. The fortified castle and its ramparts were transformed into a citadel in the 16th century, chasing the last inhabitants towards the lower town, before its destruction by order of Louis XIV after the siege of 1705. The castle's cemetery today occupies the square of the citadel and the old medieval suburb.