We’ll stroll the Cobblestone Street of Vieille Ville, Nice’s Old Town, a lively ambience reminiscent of Italy.

It is easy to understand why Impressionist painters were drawn to Nice. With its sunny weather and stunning seaside scenery, this picturesque city resembles a pastel painting. The city has a distinctive Italian character that’s especially visible in the Old Town.

Along our way we’ll visit some churches and learn about their historical importance.

Cathédral Sainte-Réparate

Through the picturesque maze of narrow lanes we’ll arrive in the heart of Old Nice and visit the beautiful Cathédral Sainte-Réparate, a 17th-century Baroque church. The Cathédrale Sainte-Reparate has an exquisitely decorative interior, featuring Corinthian columns with gilded detailing and many little cherub figurines in friezes surrounding grand pieces of artwork.  The Palais du Justice and an awe-inspiring bell tower was added in 1731-57 and the church was finally completed and declared a minor basilica in 1949.

Dedicated to the Assumption of the Divine Mother and Sainte Reparata. The ornate interior includes ten chapels and three organs.

Feast of Sainte-Reparate

Each year, the people of Nice and the faithful pay homage to Sainte-Reparata during a procession in Old Nice which ends at the Cathedral.

Reparata is the name of a young Palestinian girl who was martyred for her Christian faith in the 3rd C. Saint Reparate was 15 when she was beheaded and his body set adrift in a small vessel.  Her legend states that immediately upon dying a dove appeared to symbolize the departure of her spirit therefrom to Heaven. Later elaborations of her legend state that her body was laid in a boat and blown by the breath of angels to the “Baie des Anges”, Bay of Angels of Nice.  She is now buried at the cathedral and honored as the patroness of Nice.Sainte-Réparate is a young Christian, virgin and martyr, patroness of Nice and Florence. 

A similar tale is associated with the legends of Restituta; Devota, patroness of Monaco and Corsica; and Torpes of Pisa.

Eglise Saint-Jacques

We’ll visit the Church of Jesus, called the Eglise Saint-Jacques which was built by Jesuits who were banned from France in 1764.  “The Jesuits were serially expelled from the Portuguese Empire (1759), France (1764), the Two Sicilies, Malta, Parma, the Spanish Empire (1767) and Austria, and Hungary (1782).  Historians identify multiple factors causing the suppression. The Jesuits, who were not above getting involved in politics, were distrusted for their closeness to the pope and his power in independent nations’ religious and political affairs. Monarchies attempting to centralise and secularise political power viewed the Jesuits as supranational, too strongly allied to the papacy, and too autonomous from the monarchs in whose territory they operated. In France, it was a combination of many influences, from Jansenism to free-thought, to the then prevailing impatience with the Ancien Régime. With his papal brief, Dominus ac Redemptor (21 July 1773), Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society as a fait accompli. However, the order did not disappear. It continued underground operations in China, Russia, Prussia, and the United States. In Russia, Catherine the Great allowed the founding of a new novitiate.”

“In 1814, a subsequent pope, Pius VII, acted to restore the Society of Jesus to its previous provinces, and the Jesuits began to resume their work in those countries.” ^Wikapedia

The church is prized for its delicate frescoes and impressive sculpture collection. 

We’ll see the Opera House where we’ll return tomorrow evening for an “Evening at the  Opera House” to celebrate our Divine Adventures successful completion.

The rest of the day is at your leisure.  Dinner is on your own.

Finish the day with a sunset drink at the port while watch boats bobbing in the harbor. And return to the hotel for a good nights sleep.