Cannes, city, southeastern France, in Alpes-Maritimes Department, on the Mediterranean Sea, near Nice. A fashionable resort of the French Riviera, the city is built on an elevation that slopes to the sea and is sheltered by a range of hills. Tourism is the chief industry, but Cannes also has a busy port and is a trade center for flowers and fruit produced in the region. An important international film festival is held here each year.
Points of interest in the city include the Church of Notre Dame d'Espérance (15th century); the Lycklama Museum, which has a fine collection of antiquities; and the Promenade de la Croisette, a street with splendid hotels and shops. On a nearby island in the Mediterranean is the Abbey of Lérins, a noted intellectual center in the 5th century.
