St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral

The St Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral is the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Western Europe. The cathedral was opened in 1912, thanks to the generosity of Russia's Tsar Nicholas II.

Beginning in the mid-19th century, Russian nobility visited Nice and the French Riviera, following the fashion established decades earlier by the English upper class and nobility. In 1864, immediately after the railway reached Nice, Tsar Alexander II visited by train and was attracted by the pleasant climate. Thus began an association between Russians and the French Riviera that continues to this day.

The cathedral, consecrated in December 1912 in memory of Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, who died in Nice, was meant to serve the large Russian community that had settled in Nice by the end of the 19th century, as well as devout visitors from the Imperial Court. Tsar Nicholas II funded the construction work.

After 1917, Communist persecution of religion in Russia led some Russian Orthodox dioceses abroad to form jurisdictions not affiliated with Moscow. One of these, the Paris-based exarchate, later assumed control of the Nice cathedral. On 20 January 2010, a French Court ruled that the title to the Cathedral should be held by the Russian state.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Avenue Nicolas II 2, Nice, France

Details

Founded: 1903-1912
Category: Religious sites in France