An exclusive sale- Manoir Belgrano, Nice Cimiez

Sole agent: near the famous Regina, the Matisse Museum, the garden of the arenas of Cimiez and its monastery, in a green and absolutely peaceful environment, this majestic apartment listed by our Côte d'Azur Sotheby's International Realty agency - 5 rue Longchamp in Nice.

The Belgrano Manor - Nice Cimiez

Built in 1911, this luxurious bourgeois residence has everything of an elegant castle in the Gothic style, with its stained glass windows and its turrets, and whose Renaissance elements would have been borrowed from the castle of Blois.

Charles Dalmas - who designed this magnificent building - was a French architect, born in Nice on March 11, 1863 and who died in Nice on October 18, 1938. He attended the School of Decorative Arts in Nice, then the School of Fine Arts in Paris. Known for having participated in the development of palaces on the Côte d'Azur, his refined style was particularly appreciated by the wealthy foreign clientele.

In Cimiez, he is also the architect of the Palais Winter, the Hôtel Hermitage, the Villa Argentine, the Grand Palais and the Carlton-Carabacel.

The Hill of Cimiez in Nice: an essential visit.

The beginnings

A hill occupied since the beginning of antiquity, Cimiez is - with the hill of the Castle - the second historical site of Nice.

Formerly “Cemenelum”, it owes its existence to Augustus, the first Roman emperor, who undertook between 24 and 14 BC the pacification of the Alpine tribes. This is how Cemenelum becomes the capital of a new province, the Alpes-Maritimes.

In the 3rd century, it experienced its hour of glory with the construction of the baths and the amphitheater, the remains of which constitute the current archaeological site. Christianity has been spreading in the Empire since the 1st century, and evangelization is accompanied, as everywhere else, by its first martyrs (Saint Pons, Saint Bassus) whose local history has kept a trace.

In 439 a bishopric was founded in Cemenelum: the former Women's Baths would house a Basilica, a Baptistery and a Christian necropolis. In the 5th century, it was abandoned by its inhabitants, who took refuge on the hill of Nikaïa, and was gradually transformed into a ghost town, then into a field of ruins slowly covered by vegetation and later by crops.

Only a few vestiges stand the test of time, and Cemenelum, like Nice, disappeared from history for almost 3 centuries.

The hill from the Middle Ages to the 17th century.

The Benedictine monks decided in 1490 to build a chapel and chose to build on the hill of Cimiez; in 1546 it was ceded to the Franciscans who founded a monastery there.

The 17th and 18th centuries were synonymous with prosperity and great cultural and religious influence. In 1803, it once again became a simple parish church dedicated to the cult of the Virgin and became an important place of pilgrimage. Among the masterpieces kept in the church are the Pieta, the Crucifixion and the Deposition from the Cross by Louis Bréa (late 15th – early 16th century).

The monastery is organized around a small cloister (16th century) and a large cloister (17th century) which opens onto the gardens through a magnificent wrought iron gate. A museum has been set up in the buildings and the former monks' garden became a public park in 1927.

On the other side of the church is the cemetery, considered the most aristocratic in the city since its creation at the beginning of the 19th century. There is the tomb of François Malausséna, former mayor of Nice, and those of the painters Trachel, Dufy and Matisse.

From the 17th century, several aristocratic families had luxurious villas built in the middle of agricultural estates. Among these residences, the current Matisse museum - built in 1680 for the Gubernatis family.

The 19th century: The Belle Epoque in Nice.

In 1860, Nice and its County were attached to France and until 1914 became the capital of winter tourism, welcoming in particular the Russian and English aristocracy.

In 1884, the Boulevard de Cimiez was created as far as the arenas, thus linking the hill to the city. Cimiez is then covered with splendid hotels and villas surrounded by sumptuously landscaped parks. These prestigious residences benefit from a Belle-Epoque architecture which is characterized by extraordinary ornamentation, monumental porches, majestic domes, minarets at the top of a Moorish-inspired façade, arcade flanked by neo-Gothic towers, more classical architecture…

Cimiez became the most elegant district of Nice and that is how Queen Victoria chose it as a vacation spot - thereby ensuring international publicity. In 1896, the Nice architect Sébastien-Marcel Biasini erected the largest palace of his time, the Regina, to house the sovereign and her important retinue.

After the First World War, the economic crisis of 1929 and the impoverishment of the aristocracy, winter tourism declined and gave way to summer tourism, which was more popular. This is how the palaces will become prestigious condominiums divided into luxury apartments.

Cimiez is also a cultural hotspot: the Archeology Museum presents many objects discovered on the ancient site; the Matisse museum has a rich collection of works by the painter who lived in an apartment in Regina from 1938 to 1943, then from 1948 until his death in 1953; Villa Paradisio, the museum of the Biblical Message with contemporary architecture, which receives the works of the painter Marc Chagall inspired by the bible.

Today the park of Cimiez, its arenas and the gardens of the Monastery are above all places of walk particularly appreciated by the people of Nice. The city organizes many popular and family events there, such as the traditional "May" festival or the International Jazz Festival.

Contact us to arrange a visit to the Belgrano Manor in Nice Cimiez privatedesk@cotedazur-sothebysrealty.com

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