Thursday, April 13, 2006

Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Nice

We went for a walk to the old Russian Orthodox cathedral of Saint Nicholas a couple of weeks back. One of the workmen who had been working on our house told me some of the history of the Russian enclave in Nice so it was interesting to go along and see the cathedral for ourselves.

The cathedral is very close to the main Nice train station and its quite strange to turn a corner and see the typically Russian architecture and onion domes.

The building is currently being restored so there is scaffolding and safety netting in evidence. When the work is completed it will be spectacular once more. Even with the scaffolding ; the intricate brickwork, carvings and gold leaf are worth seeing.


There is also a Russian orthodox church in Rue Longchamp. Nice that predates the cathedral [the was church consecrated in 1860 and first stone laid for the cathedral in 1903].


It was quite overcast on the day we visited , and since religious services were taking place we did not go in and look around. I imagine we will go back at some point to see the interior, which has a large collection of icons and religious art.
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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Alison, thank you for the photos of the restoration of the Russian church. I am enchanted with the architecture and last November posted here http://tradpad.blogspot.com/2005/11/o-golden-domes.html on what appears to be a brand new Russian church in an inner Melbourne, Australia suburb. Brunswick is a working class suburb in which parts are becoming gentrified. But out that way they seem to be a bit keen on gold. The Catholic Church - Mary Help of Christians - has a large golden statue of Mary atop its high roof.