FRANCE - Best of Europe 2014 - page 506

▲ Russian Cathedral (Cathédrale Russe)
Nice's Russian Orthodox church, claimed by some to be the finest outside Russia, is worth a
visit.
Cost and Hours: Free, Mon-Sat 9:00-12:00 & 14:30-18:00, Sun 14:30-18:00, until
17:00 off-season; chanted services Sat at 17:30 or 18:00, Sun at 10:00; no tourist visits dur-
ing services, no short shorts, 17 Boulevard du Tzarewitch, tel. [phone], www.acor-
nice.com . The park around the church stays open at lunch and makes a fine setting for pic-
nics.
Getting to the Russian Cathedral: It's at 17 Boulevard du Tzarewitch, a 10-minute
walkfromthetrainstation.HeadwestonAvenueThiers,turnrightonAvenueGambetta,go
under the freeway, and turn left following Eglise Russe signs. Or, from the station, take any
bus heading west on Avenue Thiers and get off at Avenue Gambetta (then follow the previ-
ous directions).
Background: Five hundred rich Russian families wintered in Nice in the late 19th
century, and they needed a worthy Orthodox house of worship. Czar Nicholas I's widow
provided the land (which required tearing down her house), and Czar Nicholas II gave this
church to the Russian community in 1912. (A few years later, Russian comrades who didn't
winter on the Riviera assassinated him.) Here in the land of olives and anchovies, these
proud onion domes seem odd. But, I imagine, so did those old Russians.
Visiting the Cathedral: The one-room interior is filled with icons and candles, and old
Russian music adds to the ambience. The wall of icons (iconostasis) divides things between
the spiritual realm and the temporal world of the worshippers. Only the priest can walk
between the two worlds, by using the “Royal Door.” The items lining the front are interest-
ing (described in order from left corner). The angel with red boots and wings—the protector
of the Romanov family—stands over a symbolic tomb of Christ. The tall, black, hammered-
copper cross commemorates the massacre of Nicholas II and his family in 1918. A Jesus
icon is to the right of the Royal Door. According to a priest here, as worshippers meditate,
staring deep into the eyes of Jesus, they enter a lake where they find their soul. Surrounded
by incense, chanting, and your entire community...it could happen. Farther to the right, the
icon of the unhappy-looking Virgin and Child is decorated with semiprecious stones from
theUralMountains.Artistsworkedatriangleintoeachiconicface—symbolicoftheTrinity.
Other Nice Museums
Both of these museums are acceptable rainy-day options, and free of charge.