For as long as one can recall, Biarritz has attributed its reputation to the imperial couple – Napoleon III and his wife, Empress Eugénie of Montijo – whose pomp and splendour drew the world's aristocracy. At the time, many buildings rose from the ground, harmoniously blending Gothic and Florentine influences with neo-Basque and Art Deco styles. A real melting-pot of genres, described by historians as "Biarrot eclecticism".