What’s wrong with Apollo in the “Fontaine du Soleil” by the sculptor Alfred Auguste Janniot (1889-1969)? In legend, the ancient Greek deity Apollo, the son of Zeus, master of Olympus, rode a chariot pulled by fiery horses across the sky every day to bring light to the world. Venerated in various guises and incarnations throughout classical antiquity, radiant Apollo came …
Have you ever noticed the glass covering just at the tramway entrance Opéra? What could it possible show as the glass has become so dirty, nobody can tell. Well, it is the vestige of the former Pont Vieux, written about as early as the year 1250. The bridge was built from stone. The Paillon River has disappeared from our view, …
While working in the archives of the Alpes-Maritimes in Nice, sorting documents from a 20th century politician, I ran across a letter from a constituent which gripped my attention like no other. The letter was one of palpitating fear. You could almost feel the sweat dripping with each word as the writer, processing the horror of his circumstances, tried to …
“Am I feeling well?” Al is writing in response to a friend’s inquiry. “Am I feeling well, not necessarily”. I am even consulting doctors which is contrary to my custom and also to my principle. In the study where he composed those words, Al collapsed two day later. He was alone at the time and nobody knows how long it …
This is the story of a beautiful commoner and a handsome prince. The young woman was renown and glamorous, but without royal blood. The handsome prince when he first saw her was spellbound. She was a dazzling blond in her twenties and had the most eligible bachelors around the world seeking her hand. The prince, by contrast was a quiet …
Robert Levitt wrote an article in Nice Matin blog about the symbols that can be found in the old town of Nice. The initial entry of Jews into Nice is subject to speculation, but the first documents related to the establishment of a Jewish Ghetto in Nice, called judaysium, are dated in the year 1430. We don’t know whether the Ghetto …
You might know the Vladimir Lenin was a resident in Nice, living here prior to the Russian revolution in 1917, but do you know the fascinating story of his childhood? There were two men, Ilya and Theodore, both educators in a small Russian town, both with fathers of April born sons. Theodore boy was a preschooler, Ilya’s was a teenager …
This unusual villa was built by the architect Georges Massa. It was one of a series of homes which were designed by Massa in the Vallauris region. Massa was the architect of a recent Villa in Golfe Juan which Via Nissa studied in completing a historical report. Our historical research involves archival and historical studies on properties, those who built …
Have you visited the Jewish cemetery in Nice? It is very rare that an ancient cemetery can be found in the center of a city. One of the most moving tombstone is of a small boy who just before dying asked his parents for a train, plane, car and pine tree which they never had the opportunity to give to …
Many of the locals know about Sainte Réparate, whom the Cathedral in Nice is named after. She was a teenage Palestinian girl arrested by the Romans for being Christian. The story goes that the Romans tried to kill her by burning her, but rains came which put out the fire. Then they made her drink boiling water and finally chopped …
