Nice, France, July 20, 2020
Photo: cerkov-ru.com
The beautiful Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Nice, France, was honored recently, being included in the shortlist for the competition, “Best Architectural Monument of France 2020.”
Support for St. Nicholas Cathedral has already been expressed by the Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, reports the Korsun Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.
This year, there are 14 nominees on the shortlist, including such famous attractions as the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, the Champ-de-Bataille palace-park complex in Normandy, and the Belfort Citadel.
You can vote for St. Nicholas Cathedral on the contest’s website, by clicking on the image of the cathedral and then clicking the “Valider” button. The cathedral is the last monument shown.
Votes will be tallied on July 26.
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The history of the Russian St. Nicholas cathedral of Nice began early in the 20th century, when around 150 wealthy and powerful Russian families lived in the city. The community became so large that the small church in Rue Longchamp could no longer accommodate all the parishioners, so it was decided to build a new one. The funds used for building the new church went from the treasury of the Holy Emperor Nicholas II, from the local community, and the Russian nobility. The construction of the cathedral near Boulevard du Tzarewitch began in 1903 and was finished nine years later, in 1912.
Built according to a design by architect Mikhail Preobrazhensky in the style typical for 16th-century churches of Moscow and Yaroslavl, the cathedral has five domes.
The distinctive feature of the cathedral is its decoration for which local materials were partially used: thanks to the combination of light brown bricks, milk-white capstone and blue-green ornamented tiles, the cathedral blends well with the characteristic Mediterranean landscapes without losing its originality.
From 1923, the cathedral was managed by the Orthodox Association of Nice (ACOR) which has been under the Patriarchate of Constantinople since 1931. In 2013, after a long procedure, the court of cassation of France upheld the Russian Federation’s ownership of the cathedral. At that time, it was in a dangerous condition. By order of President Vladimir Putin, budgetary funds were earmarked in 2013 for the reconstruction and restoration of this architectural monument, which was carried out in 2015-2016.
