Russian Nobility of the French Riviera

[frimousse]

The Russian church in Nice, rue de Longchamp, today

[frimousse]

Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Nice.
Built in 1903
Consecrated in 1912 in Tzar Nicholas' presence.

 

[frimousse]

Nice in 1922 resort of the European Aristocracy
From the book " When the Russian Grand Dukes danced waltz in Nice"
Ed Fayard 1981
by Paul Augier

[amelia]

I recently visited St. Nicholas church in Nice.  It is very beautiful and it is currently in repairs.  In the same compound there is a small church, which was built exactly where the village in which GD Nicholas died.  This smaller church is in very bad condition and it is not even opened to the public. The interior of St. Nicholas church is just wonderful, and no wonder the Russian government wants to take it back to Russia. Speaking to French friends, they told me that unless someone offers to buy the land, eventually the two churches will be demolished, since the land belongs to the French government.

Also in the area, like Villefranche sure Mer and Nice, there are a few streets with the names "Maria Feodorovna Boulevard", "Nicholas II rue", etc.  I also saw small statues of Prince Orlov and GD Sandro. Of course Russia had a naval base in Villafranche sur Mer.

Amelia

[frimousse]

Yes Amelia you are true. After the war of Crimea, Russia wanted a place to harbour her float in the Mediterranean Sea. So Gortchakov proposed King Victor Emmanuel to rent Villefranche.
This place was in the Piemontese Kingdom, and became French after the plebiscite of 1860. Napoleon III agreed to keep giving shelter to the Russian ships. The first to break in were ships Orlov and Olaf in 1857 with the arrival of Empress Maria Feodorovna.
A road was built ( boulevard de l'Impératrice-Empress' boulevard) beetwen Nice and Villefranche.
In November 1858 Captain Baron von Taube arrived with the ship "Revitzan", 850 marines, 88 cannons and began to build the naval base.
Grand Duke Constantin, admiral of the float, inspected frequently the base.

[amelia]

Frimousse,

Thank you so much for the additional information.  I spent 5 weeks recently in Villefranche and I was so happy to find so much evidence of the Russian presence in the area.  But what pleased me most was to visit the St. Nicholas Chuch, which I did many times.

Unfortunately I can not post any photographs that I took, I do not have a digital and therefore it is impossible.

Amelia

[AlexP@asia.com]

GuangZhou, PRC
2006.06.29

Dear Frimousse,

Thank you for your very informative postings about Russian Nobility and the Cote d'Azur.

Indeed, when one looks over the names of the parishioners of the two churches in Nice, and the church in Cannes, one feels it is a list of who's who in Petersburg society, circa 1910.

For a nice summary of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Nice, look here :

http://www.exarchat.org/article.php3?id_article=195

For an equally nice summary of the Church of St. Nicholas and St. Alexandra, look here:

http://www.exarchat.org/article.php3?id_article=196



And to confirm what Frimouse writes...just look at the names...the warden of the Cathedral is Prince Obolensky...and at the smaller church there are many Wiazemskys...

All the best,


Alex P.

[jacqueline]

I recently visited St. Nicholas church in Nice.  It is very beautiful and it is currently in repairs.  In the same compound there is a small church, which was built exactly where the village in which GD Nicholas died.  This smaller church is in very bad condition and it is not even opened to the public. The interior of St. Nicholas church is just wonderful, and no wonder the Russian government wants to take it back to Russia. Speaking to French friends, they told me that unless someone offers to buy the land, eventually the two churches will be demolished, since the land belongs to the French government.

Dear Amelia,

I believe your French friends are mistaken about the St. Nicholas church.  Tsar Alexandre II bought the land before it even belonged to France.  So, there is no question who owns this land for eternity and it is not the  post-soviet Russian Government   Actually, the soviet government tried take over the church in the 1940s but the nobility that lived in Nice stopped them by barricading themselves in the church for 2 days straight. Also, the noble families that supported the church in the past are still sending what little money they can these days for the maintenance (even though they no longer live there).  It would be such a shame to destroy this historical landmark..... I hope it's just a rumor.

Jacqueline