In front of you opens the most famous view in Nice: the great curve of the Bay of Angels, with the Promenade des Anglais fading away towards the airport. Bellanda Tower, beside you, is a 19th-century building, raised at the edge of the park where one of the towers of the old defences once stood.

1Berlioz in the tower

Hector Berlioz came to Nice twice. In 1831, heartbroken after a broken engagement, he wrote the overture to «King Lear» here. He returned in 1844 and stayed in a tower on this cliff, which local tradition identifies as Bellanda Tower. That summer produced an overture first performed in January 1845 under the title «La Tour de Nice», known today as «Le Corsaire».

On the original manuscript you can still read the crossed-out title «La Tour de Nice».

2Why «of the Angels»?

There are two answers. Tradition says the angels guided the boat of Saint Reparata, the city's patron saint, to this shore. Fishermen had another: these waters teemed with «anges de mer», angel sharks, a kind of flat shark with wing-like fins that tore their nets to shreds. Neither explanation can be dated with any certainty.

Just below, the wind lashing the headland gave its name to the Rauba Capeù quay, the «hat stealer».

3What to look for

  • The glazed-tile dome of the tower.
  • The curve of the bay, all the way to Cap d'Antibes on clear days.
  • The rooftops of the Old Town at your feet, with the cathedral dome.

Documented

Berlioz stayed in Nice in 1831 and 1844; the overture «Le Corsaire» was first performed in 1845 under the title «La Tour de Nice».

Oral tradition

That Berlioz stayed precisely in Bellanda Tower is a local identification; the bay's name from Saint Reparata's angels is a tradition.

Sources and credits

Hector Berlioz, Memoirs (1870); The Hector Berlioz Website (hberlioz.com), «Berlioz in Nice»; French Wikipedia, «Le Corsaire (Berlioz)» and «Baie des Anges».

Photos:

  • The round Bellanda Tower with its coloured-tile dome, on a terrace overlooking the bay: Alex, CC BY-SA 3.0.

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