Cimiez

Cimiez is an upscale neighbourhood on the hill of Cimiez in the north of Nice. It is home to the ancient Gallo-Roman ruins of Cemenelum, the Cimiez monastery, church and cemetery, le Musée Matisse, le Musée Marc Chagall et le Musée Archéologie. We began our short tour by walking through gates of the ampitheatre...

and across its expanse. 

On the other side, we followed some paths named after musicians like Dizzie Gillespie and Miles Davis that cut through a very old olive orchard. This was the site of the Nice Jazz Festival for many years.  Along the way, we passed by le Musée Matisse, but we didn't have time to do it justice. We hope to return for a proper visit before we leave.

The stairs leading to the church, cemetery and gardens.

This is the Church of Assumption that has been used by the Franciscan monks since the 16th century. At this point, we have seen just about all the churches that we would ever want to, so we gave it a miss. I would however, like to get back to the cemetery to see the burial sites of Henri Matisse and Raoul Dufy.

Behind the church are the gardens which I imagine would be spectacular in the summer. Even in the winter, they had roses blooming....

and mushrooms too.

From the gardens, there were panoramic views of the east side of the city down to the coast.

The hill you see in the above picture is called Parc de la Colline du Château which overlooks the port and le Vieux Nice. Next on the agenda was a visit to le Musée Archéologie. You can only explore what is left of some the ruins, in particular the baths or les thermes, by going through the museum. The ruins date back to somewhere between the Ist and 5th century. Here are a few pictures.

I must admit that after visiting places like Arles and Nîmes, these ruins were somewhat underwhelming in comparison. Yet one has to appreciate that places such as this even exist today. 

Close to the ruins, just outside Cimiez Park, there is the beautiful Regina Palace Hotel where Queen Victoria stayed when she visited the French Riviera. Henri Matisse also resided there. Nowadays, there is a statue of Queen Victoria at the entrance to the lovely Cimiez neighbourhood. 

Next up, a visit to the coastal city of Menton.