Nice, France - climbing the castle hill. Chateau Hill in Nice - the best views of the Cote d'Azur Castle Hill Nice how to get there

This is a narrow square on the sides of which there are numerous restaurants and every morning there is a market with fresh fish, fruits, vegetables, berries, pastries, then the market turns into a flower market and they sell flowers all day. On Mondays, this square is where the famous antique market is located. We will definitely visit it.

Place Charles Felix is located next to the Chateau hill (Le Chateau), which separates the city from the port and on which a park appears on maps called Parc de la Colline du Chateau.

In the 4th century BC. The Greeks, who arrived here by sea, settled on the Chateau hill, intending to turn Nicaea (now Nice) into a strategic and commercial center of the Mediterranean. Today, only a few areas of the park remind of ancient settlements. Now we will see it.
There is a steep climb up the hill, and if you are not driving, the climb is long and tiring (despite the viewing platforms at each level of the climb). But you can also take the elevator up this hill!
Entrance to the elevator is from Rue de Ponchettes. This is very close to the square described above. The elevator is in a small tunnel, but if you ask the employee, he will tell you. The elevator and entrance to the park are free. When the elevator that takes you to the very top opens its doors, the amazing view of the sea and the city will take your breath away. The elevator opens immediately observation deck. As you move from the elevator, the views will change. And everything is for the better! The rooftops of old Nice will be increasingly visible.

The park itself is very pleasant for walking. The aroma of fir, shady corners with benches, everything is very pleasant and peaceful. There is a children's playground in the center of the park, where little children run merrily and squeal, but this will not interfere with relaxation at all. Observation platforms are located on all sides of the park, so you can admire both the Bay of Angels and the city from the port.

On the hill there are ruins of a church from the 11th-12th century. A computer reconstruction of the church is shown next to the excavations. These remnants of Greek culture and civilization can be admired endlessly. Some kind of wisdom and peace are preserved by these ruins.

A little history of the hill:
“Starting from the 10th century, measured city life flowed on Chateau Hill (or Castle Hill).
There was a castle, a cathedral and many residential buildings here. It was safer to live on the mountain,
after all, it offered an excellent view in all directions; enemies could be spotted in advance.
However, over time, people began to descend from the hill and build houses on the coast.
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the inhabitants of Nice practically abandoned the hill, and the castle was destroyed in 1706."

Every day at 12:00 noon a cannon shot is heard on the hill. When I heard it for the first time, I was very surprised, but the owner of the apartment explained that it was just lunch time. Well, already more detailed history“cannon shot” I read in the guidebook:
"In 1861, a Scottish tourist spending time in Nice the winter vacation, to comply with the military tradition of the “midday cannon shot,” I decided to install at my own expense Castle Hill gun. According to legend, this is how he called his wife home... to cook dinner. And on November 19, 1875, a decree of the government of Nice decided to make this hour official."

I walked down the hill.
“In the second half of the 18th century, it was decided to turn the former residential area at the bottom of the hill into a cemetery. Over time, it turned into a necropolis, where celebrities, noble residents of the city, representatives of Russian, English and French aristocratic families began to be buried. For example, here are the graves of a journalist , writer, author of "The Phantom of the Opera" Gaston Leroux, as well as the founder of the Mercedes automobile brand Emil Jellinek and his daughter. The grave of the Russian publicist and philosopher Alexander Herzen stands out among others." No, I didn’t go to the necropolis, that’s why the photos show only quiet churches

Going down the hill you find yourself in the very depths of old Nice

And on the embankment at that time there were yacht races

Next on the program is a trip to Monaco.
The stop from which buses 100 (Monaco, Menton) and 81 (Cap Ferrat) depart is called “STATION J.C.BERMOND”, it is located on the isthmus of streets Bd. Jean Jaures and Av. Felix Faure. The drive to Monaco is much faster than to Cannes, about half an hour. The bus makes several stops in Monaco. We get off at the stop: Office du Tourisme, and after walking a little we find ourselves directly opposite the Monte Carlo casino

Tourists crowd around the casino, taking pictures in front of the building and in front of the employees. But the latter apparently got used to not paying any attention to the cameras

Just behind the casino is the luxurious building of the Monte Carlo Opera.

Its author, architect Charles Garnier, had recently completed the construction of the Grand Opera in Paris. The Monte Carlo Opera House stands on the shore Mediterranean Sea, it is connected to the casino with a red marble foyer. The construction of the building took only six months. 400 Italian craftsmen worked on its construction. The result was an extremely intricate Second Empire style façade with extraordinarily richly decorated towers and sculptures by Gustav Doré and Sarah Bernhardt."

I couldn't take my eyes off the front of the theater. All his sculptures, all his arches and women's heads, capitals, marble flowers.... in all this there is a special cheerfulness, pleasure in being.

An opera singer could be heard singing from the slightly open windows of the theater. And on the ground floor of the theater, employees in tuxedos were rehearsing.
There is a gorgeous park next to the theater.

Each city has its own color, which usually consists of the shades of houses, roofs, and architecture in general. And, probably, Nice is one of the few cities whose color is influenced by a completely different factor - of course, it is a sea of incredible shade... Dada, exactly azure... not blue, not blue or anything else. It is this color that is used to the maximum in the decor of everything you can imagine in Nice. This is the color of Nice.

It’s nice to admire the sea here from any angle, but how great it is to see it from above, to literally float above such beauty. I will forever remember our plane flight from Nice to Vienna, the picture from the window still remains in my memory. But it’s not only from an airplane that you can see Nice from above; for example, you can climb to a wonderful observation deck..

Our path to the observation deck lay from flower market through Place Gautier. There is the palace of the Dukes of Savoy, which currently houses the city prefecture (Palais de Préfecture des Alpes-Maritime). Also located here is the Chapel of Mercy (Chapelle de Miséricorde), in which the Brotherhood of Black Penitents was based, helping the sick, the poor and the homeless. But personally, I was attracted by this pale yellow building with quite simple but attractive stucco molding.