Prefecture Palace

In front of you stands the building that best sums up the political history of Nice. From the 16th century it was where the Dukes of Savoy stayed when they came to town; later it housed the Kings of Sardinia; and since 1860 it has been the seat of the French prefect.

1A palace for the dukes

Nice placed itself under the protection of Savoy in 1388, breaking away from Provence. The first duke to live here was Emmanuel Philibert, in 1559. Work on the great palace began in 1571, and Charles Emmanuel I inaugurated it, still unfinished, in 1613. In 1814, after the Napoleonic interlude, Victor Emmanuel I made it a royal residence, and between 1818 and 1825 the architect Jean-Antoine Scoffier remodelled the façade, the entrance hall and the grand staircase.

2The day Nice changed country

In March 1860, the Treaty of Turin ceded Nice and Savoy to France in exchange for Napoleon III's support for Italian unification. The plebiscite in April produced an overwhelming yes vote, although opponents called for a boycott and historians still debate the pressure surrounding it.

On 14 June 1860, in the rooms of this palace, the County of Nice was formally handed over to France.

Napoleon III arrived in September, and the building became the prefecture of the new Alpes-Maritimes department. In 2001, the European Union's Treaty of Nice was signed here.

3What to look for

• The colonnaded gallery on the main floor, which gives the building its Italian feel.
• The French tricolour above the façade: before 1860, the white cross of Savoy flew here.
• The Chapel of Mercy, on your right as you head down towards the Cours Saleya.