Photo : Florent Abel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Eglise Orthodoxe de St-Nicolas de Nice
The St Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Nice was built for the Russian colony of the Riviera, to plans by the architect Mikhail Preobrazhensky. Work began in 1903 and the church was consecrated in December 1912.
It stands on the site of the Villa Bermond, where Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich died in 1865; a memorial chapel was first built there at the imperial family's request, before Tsar Nicholas II authorised the building of the cathedral in the park.
The building is in neo-Russian style. Its Greek-cross plan is topped by five onion domes, symbolising Christ and the four evangelists; the domes are of reinforced concrete. Inside you can see icons, frescoes and an iconostasis. The church recalls old Russian cathedrals and can be visited outside services.
