In front of you is the grandest palace in the Old Town. On a street so narrow that you have to crane your neck to see it, the Lascaris de Vintimille family built a 17th-century residence worthy of their name.

1An imperial surname

The name has a surprising story. In July 1261, Count William Peter of Ventimiglia married Eudoxia Laskarina, daughter of the Byzantine emperor Theodore II. Their descendants took the princess's surname and added the double-headed eagle of the Laskaris to their arms. Several branches of the family settled in the County of Nice and served the House of Savoy as soldiers, bishops and diplomats.

The palace went up in the first half of the 17th century and was enlarged in the 18th, in a Genoese-inspired Baroque style. The ceilings of the main floor keep their original mid-17th-century frescoes, and the grand staircase, with its arches, balustrades and statues, is one of the finest in the city.

The family kept it until 1802. It was then split into flats and fell into decline, until the city bought it in 1942.

2From noble home to museum

After a long restoration it opened to the public in 1970. Since 2011 it has displayed one of the most important collections of historical instruments in France, with around five hundred pieces.

3What to look for

  • The balconies, resting on carved stone brackets.
  • The stone doorway, which offers a glimpse of the foot of the staircase.
  • The narrowness of Rue Droite, once the main street of the town.
Wrought-iron balconies on carved stone brackets on the façade of the Palais Lascaris
The balconies, seen from Rue Droite.
Grand staircase of the Palais Lascaris, with balustrades and frescoed ceilings
The grand staircase, inside the museum.

Documented

The palace was built in the first half of the 17th century, belonged to the Lascaris de Vintimille family until 1802 and was bought by the city in 1942; it opened as a museum in 1970.

Sources and credits

Ville de Nice, Palais Lascaris website; Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée database (listed as a historic monument, 1946); French Wikipedia, «Palais Lascaris» and «Famille Lascaris de Vintimille».

Photos:

  • Narrow Rue Droite with the façade and balconies of the Palais Lascaris: Jesmar, CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • Wrought-iron balconies on carved stone brackets on the façade of the Palais Lascaris: Finoskov, CC BY-SA 4.0.
  • Grand staircase of the Palais Lascaris, with balustrades and frescoed ceilings: dalbera, CC BY 2.0.

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