Cathedral and Castle Ruins

In front of you, among the pines, are the foundations of the first medieval Nice. For centuries the town was not down by the sea but up here: a castle, crowded houses and a cathedral, all inside the walls.

1A town on the summit

From the 11th century, the plateau of this 93-metre hill held the castrum, the houses and the Cathedral of Saint Mary, seat of the bishops. Over time the population drifted down to the plain, and in the 16th century the cathedral moved to the church of Sainte-Réparate. The Dukes of Savoy turned the hill into a formidable fortress, which held out during the Franco-Ottoman siege of 1543.

2The end of the castle

In 1705, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Louis XIV's army besieged Nice. For fifty-four days the artillery of the Duke of Berwick pounded the castle, which surrendered on 4 January 1706. The king ordered the fortifications to be razed with explosives.

Almost nothing of the castle of Savoy is left standing: just a few blocks brought down by the gunpowder, and these foundations.

The hill is also credited with ancient origins: tradition places the Greek town of Nikaia, founded by settlers from Marseille, right here, and explains its name by Nike, victory, over the Ligurians. It is a possible explanation, but an unproven one. The cathedral's remains came to light in the 1850s, while the park was being laid out.

3What to look for

• The semicircular apses of the old cathedral.
• The fallen blocks of wall, witnesses to the explosions of 1706.
• The column bases and low walls inside the enclosure.