The Churches

of Vieux- ‘the buildings’ collection Abundant This movement, which only became known as the “” movement in the Baroque 19th century, was more than just a style appearing between the Renaissance and Colourful churches, chapels, houses and the return to Antiquity of Neo-Classicism. It palaces are the trademark of Vieux-Nice, was a way of life, a way of thinking and a the old town of Nice. It is here that the cultural practice that pervaded all aspects majority of Nice’s Baroque buildings are to of life, from changes to clothing to courtly be found, with the notable exceptions of the festivals. As for the “Baroque style” itself, it Abbey of Saint-Pons and the Saint-Marie is all too often reduced to the and de Cimiez Monastery. Fully integrated its decorative excesses and exaggerations, into the urban fabric and often adjoined to which are nonetheless found in abundance the surrounding buildings, the churches in Nice, for example in the interior of the of Vieux-Nice do not benefit from lavish Church of Saint-Jacques, the Notre-Dame- facings onto the street. The only outdoor du-Mont-Carmel Chapel, and the Church space of some stature, la Place Rossetti of the Annunciation. But the true richness facing Sainte-Réparate Cathedral, was of the Baroque is seen primarily in its many opened only in 1825 and later extended borrowings and reinterpretations of very at the end of the 19th century. Up until different styles. Thus the churches of Vieux- the French Revolution, the urban city Nice often combine the formal starkness of was limited to the current Old Town. It the Roman Renaissance and the curvilinear was organised into clusters of houses architecture of Piedmont with the exuberant bordered by small streets whose layout interiors of Liguria. The decoration of many has remained essentially unchanged since buildings, particularly their façades, was not the end of the . Almost all of completed until the Restoration. Determined these clusters carried the name of a saint, to reinstate their authority and mark the with an oratory or chapel in their honour. historical and aesthetic continuity of their Almost nothing remains of the early 14th reign, the Kings of Piedmont employed a and 15th century buildings, with disasters late Baroque style where the classical and and reconstructions eventually leading to monumental elements typical of Turinese the disappearance of the medieval city. architects prevailed. It was the 16th and 17th centuries that most marked Nice’s urban history. With Villefranche providing Nice’s owners, the The Church House of Savoy, with their only access to the sea, Nice became an important of the stronghold and cultural centre. It was paid Annunciation lavish attention by the Princes of Savoy 1, rue de la Poissonnerie. and ecclesiastical authorities, notably for Historic monument since 1942 the construction of religious buildings. They made the most of the extraordinary This church is better known by the name [1] The choir of the Church of the Annunciation (Sainte-Rita), spiritual and aesthetic revival spread of one of its chapels, Sainte-Rita, which © Photo City of Nice. across by the Roman Catholic remains very popular with the people Church, imposing the themes and ideas of of Nice as Saint Rita de Cascia is the monastery by acquiring the neighbouring glazed scales and overlooked by the three the Counter-Reformation. This led to the “Patron Saint of Lost and Impossible houses. But the city refused to move the stars of the Carmelites. Ravaged by a fire construction of numerous buildings in Nice Causes” [1]. Before the 10th century, the municipal loggia built not long before in in 1834, the building was entrusted to the by the new religious orders, such as the Benedictines had blessed the site with a 1584. This loggia is still in place. From 1677 Oblates of the Virgin Mary, who renovated Jesuits (the Church of Saint-Jacques) and prayer dedicated to James the Great. The to 1690, the church was fully renovated in it with new frescoes on the vaults and a the Theatines (the Miséricorde Chapel), Carmelites followed in 1558. In 1604, they the Baroque style and the bell tower then simplified façade. It then took the title of the and the Confraternities of Penitents (see established the Confraternity of Notre- built in 1740-1741. Emerging from the Annunciation, with the title of Saint-Jacques the heritage sheet The chapels of the Dame-du-Mont-Carmel and decided to buildings that once made up the monastery, being given to the nearby church of Gesù. Confraternities of Penitents in Nice). extend the chapel and build an adjoining it is crowned with a Rococo clad in The congregation of the Oblates still runs the growing population, the Nice engineer and small chapel built by the Society of Jesus architect Jean André Guibert was charged upon its arrival in Nice in 1606 soon proved in 1649 with designing a larger building. He to be too small, various neighbouring chose a basilica floor plan in the shape of houses were bought and razed so that the a cross, crowned with a at the current church could be built in the second intersect of the transept. Work dragged on half of the 17th century, from 1742. As their due to a lack of funding and the collapse of order was suppressed in 1773, the Jesuits the vault in 1658, which caused the death of were expelled, and the college and church the bishop of Nice. Architect Marc-Antoine assigned to the Ecoles Royales. Following Grigho, designer of the Prince’s Palace of the Concordat in 1801, the church became , eventually finished the work, and the a parish a year later under the patronage new cathedral was consecrated on 30 May of Saint James the Great. Its décor was 1699. But the building was not yet complete. completed in the 19th century, notably with Further construction projects followed, with a new façade in 1825, frescoes painted the bell tower being built between 1731 and on the vault and the addition of stained- 1757 and the façade between 1825 and 1830. glass windows. Its very simple layout In 1899, the lateral aisles were extended follows the style of the Jesuit order, with and Baroque ornaments deemed outdated a single, large nave without pillars, lateral removed. The incredible restoration works chapels, no transept, and a barrel vault carried out from 2009 to 2015 helped restore allowing followers to both see and hear Sainte-Réparate’s magnificent décor. It is the preacher. But the Roman model of the only cathedral in France to boast such Gesù is adapted here to meet restrictions a Baroque ensemble [2]. The staging of the façade, on which the statue of Saint Reparata is surrounded by those of the four Nice saints, Syagre, Bassus, Pons and Valérien, is brought [2] Transept and choir of Sainte-Réparate Cathedral, to life in the distribution of the paintings © Photo Michel Graniou. adorning the choir. The lateral chapels paid for by the families and corporations of Nice offer a rich décor. The most impressive are those the church today. As for Saint Rita, her La cattedrale of Saint Rosalie and the Virgin, as well as cult was only introduced in 1934 by Father that of the Holy Sacrament, with its stunning Andrea Bianco. Sainte-Réparate altarpiece upon a double barley-sugar The church’s plan very clearly divides the 3, place Rossetti. column altar. Sainte-Réparate is the largest rectangular nave and the semicircle choir Historic monument since 1906 religious building of the Old Town of Nice. with a triumphal arch. The cathedral was raised to the honorary The restoration campaigns of the 1980s The patron saint of Nice and of many other rank of minor basilica on 27 May 1949. In this helped restore the magnificence of the provincial and Italian cities, including , capacity, it can house an umbraculum and Baroque interior with the large loggia- Reparata was originally from Caesarea in Tintinnabulum, and its canons are allowed to windows of the apse, and the opulent and died in 250 at the age of 15, wear the cappa magna. stucco, marble and gilded décor, statues during the persecutions led by the Roman and altarpieces of the six lateral chapels. Emperor Decius. According to the legend Separated from the nave by a rich palisade behind the name of the Bay of Angels, her The Church in yellow and black marble, the Notre- body was placed in a boat pulled by angels to of Saint-Jacques- Dame-du-Mont-Carmel Chapel offers a Nice. In the 11th century, a chapel was built stunning polychrome backdrop for the at the foot of the castle hill to preserve the Le-Majeur white marble statue of the Virgin and relics of Saint Reparata brought from . Place du Gesù, rue Droite. Child holding the scapular. Remarkable Developed into a church between 1455 and Historic monument since 1971 sensuality and softness were combined 1468, it became a cathedral in 1590 at Place with the powerful ascendant energy of this de Sainte-Marie du Château, once the people Its common name, the Gesù, refers to the construction of the Church of Saint-Jacques [3] The façade of the Church of Saint-Jacques-Le-Majeur collection by the Genoese sculptor Gio- of Nice had left the castle hill for the lower city (Gesù), © Photo City of Nice. Andrea Ansaldi. of what is now Vieux-Nice. To accommodate by the Jesuits and their college [3]. As the on space, which may explain the narrow an adjoining monastery and then rebuilt the huge nave a powerful sense of movement choir, and the architectural choices from church in 1424. It was completely rebuilt in strengthened by the lateral lighting from the Renaissance, such as the rhythmic the Baroque style between 1683 and 1689 the six lateral chapels and the choir. It was rows of the neat Bramante lateral chapels and the monastery renovated between the first church in the county of Nice to and the Mannerist Baroque found in the 1716 and 1719. In 1793, the monastery break with the traditional rectangular plan, typical use of Palladian windows (three complex was sold as a national asset and contemporary to the choice of ellipses bay windows grouped together). The most transformed into barracks in 1821-1822; it found in various Ligurian religious buildings, striking feature, however, is the opulence is still owned by the Ministry of Defence. such as the sanctuary of La Madonnetta of the stucco décor in the nave, which The church was subject to various major in Genoa, also built by the Augustines. magnifies its architectural frame and those alterations in the 19th century. The street It boasts rich interior décor, with altars, of the chapels. A veritable encyclopaedia façade was knocked through to create a columns and gates in polychrome marble, of Baroque figures and motifs, this new entrance in 1854 (until then access gilded wood and statues, stucco décor [5] ornamentation typical of late Mannerism was via the east side, via the monastery) and altarpieces, including a Pietà in the from Liguria echoes that of the Santissima and it was completely reworked in the choir attributed to Louis Bréa. Martin Luther Annunziata del Vastato basilica in Genoa. Baroque style in 1895. At the same time as was one of its visitors, then an Augustine The theme of the angel dominates; there this, the depth of the choir was extended monk, who celebrated a mass there on 20 are almost two hundred putti resting on and the vault decorated with frescoes. June 1510 and Guiseppe Garibaldi, who the arches, framing the bay windows and Ultimately, after the earthquake of 1887 was baptised there on 19 July 1807. running through the friezes of foliage [4]. shook one of the two 18th century bell This abundance of Baroque style gives the towers, it had to be knocked down. Saint- Gesù exceptional gaiety. Martin-Saint-Augustin is one of Nice’s The Church most original churches. Its ellipsoidal plan marked by its three large rows gives this of Saint-François- de-Paule 9, rue Saint-François-de-Paule. Historic monument since 1946. Saint-François-de-Paule is one of the churches in Nice whose architecture and [6] The façade of Saint-Françoise-de-Paule, decoration most resembles that of the © Photo City of Nice. churches of Piedmont. Its construction was connected to the development of the new Minims disappeared during the Revolution. town at the western extremity of Vieux- The church was erected as a parish in Nice on the former marshland known as 1838, connected to that of Saint-Reparate Pré-aux-Oies, a town planning operation in 1934 and conferred to the Dominicans. [4] The ornaments and cherub frieze of the made possible by the destruction of the The monumental Neo-Classical character Church of Saint-Jacques-Le-Majeur, © Photo City of Nice city’s ancient fortifications. The church and of the façade, scattered with only a few its adjoining monastery were built between Baroque elements, such as the oculus that 1722 and 1723 by the Minims, an order of adds curves to the cornice, are found inside The Church mendicant hermits established by François the church. Its stark plan with a single nave of Saint-Martin- de Paule in 1436 and present in Nice from is softened by the use of gentle curves, 1633. The Church of Saint-François-de- double arches moulded into the vaults and Saint-Augustin Paule was extended and renovated in the horseshoe semicircle of the choir. All 1736-1741, before receiving its current of these architectonic choices lead Saint- Place Saint-Augustin. appearance during the works carried out François-de-Paul to echo the Church of Historic monument since 1946 from 1762 to 1767. Its façade, created the Madonna del Carmin designed by the Installed in Nice at the end of the 13th in 1773, bears the Minim motto Charitas famous architect Filippo Juvara. The grey century, in 1406 the Hermits of Saint (charity) in a radiant medallion [6]. The coating covering all of the walls and the Augustine received permission to move into street bearing the name of the building’s vault, also the colour of the façade before [5] The vault in the Church of Saint-Martin-Saint-Augustin, patron saint was known during the 18th and clear the Saint-Martin parish near the © Photo City of Nice. its restoration in 2004, further lead this Nice northern ramparts of the city. They created century as Nice’s most stylish street. The church to resemble the buildings of Turin. service Patrimoine historique

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www.nice.fr/fr/culture/patrimoine Panoramic view of the bell-towers of the churches of Vieux-Nice. © Photo City of Nice : Panoramic view of the bell-towers churches Vieux-Nice. Couverture