Cemeteries to visit Provence-Alpes-Côte D'Azur

In the Middle Ages, Menton Castle stands at the top of Colla Hill hill, 78 m above sea level. Very experienced for nearly three centuries, the site will finally be abandoned in 1650. The remains of the castle were acquired by the commune of Menton in 1807: the place is then turned into a graveyard. The burials of the mentonnaises families surround those of the foreign colonies. Composed of superimposed terraces, each is assigned to a particular religion or nationality. In these places, the famous architect Tersling built most of the beautiful mansions of the late th century in the region, but also the inventor of Rugby Webb, as well as a few Russian princes with famous names such as Troubetzkoï or Volkonski. The mausoleum of the Polish Princess Janina Jelowickich Lewandowska is certainly the most beautiful of the old cemetery: the statue that dominates it represents the flight of a young woman out of her casket. From the cemetery, beautiful views of the old town, the sea and the coast, from Cape Martin to Mortola point in Italy.

Beside the church is the cemetery. The vaults of most of the bourgeois bourgeois families are gathered there. Many of these tombs were built in the th century. They also represent the art of living of the Belle Epoque (1870-1914). What a privilege - at this time - to make its family cellar built by a great architect! When one had the means… Charles Dalmas (1863-1938), for example, was most requested. Fashion is. Many monumental tombs evoke architectural influences: From neo-Gothic to arabesques, through neo-classical. Note the Italian inspiration, also present in the monumental statuary. The preponderance of «church» on some graves only reinforces the romance atmosphere of this cemetery. Needless to say, visitors noticed the graves of some of the buried celebrities: the Beleaguered family of Saint Joseph, Jean Behra (1921-1959), the Countess of Potocka or Laure La Poitevin (1821-1903), mother of Guy de Maupassant.

This small cemetery at the monumental graves houses the graves of Henri Matisse and Raoul Dufy.

Saint-Sylvestre

In 1783, an edict of the King of Sardinia Victor Amédée III (1726-1796) prohibited the burial of corpses in churches for reasons of hygiene and place. It is then a question of finding a new site to establish a graveyard. The Hill Hill, a rough terrain since the demolition of the citadel (1706) lends itself perfectly. Other funeral fields are located with the parishes of Campagn (Saint-Roch, Saint-Pierre d'Arena, Saint-Etienne, St. Helena, Saint-Barthélemy, Ruins, Gairaut, and the hills). This cemetery is one of the top three monumental cemeteries in Europe with those of Milan and Genoa. From the entrance, we are moved by the presence of the monument to the dead dedicated to the victims of the municipal theatre fire. On March 23, 1881, 24 people died in the flames while they came to attend the representation.

The particularity of the cemetery lies in the many personalities who are buried there: writer Gaston Leroux (1868-1927), painter Clément Roassal (1781-1850), the member for Nice in the parliament of Turin Benoît Bunico (1810-1863), the privateer Joseph Bavastro (1760-1833), the naturalist Antoine Risso (1777-1845), and poet Agathe-Sophie Sasserno (1810-1860). From the second half of the th century, the nice political society came to join these first personalities: Mayors Alfred Borriglione (1843-1902) and Honoré Sauvan (1860-1922), Ministers Edouard Corniglion-Molinier (1898-1963) and Edouard Grinda (1866-1959), Members Constantin Bergondi (1819-1874), Flaminius Raiberti (1862-1929) and Ernest Lairolle (1851-1926). The world of culture is also present: The international poet "Menica" Rondelly (1854-1935) who wrote "Nissa the Bella" became the official anthem of the city. We also note the presence of some benefactors such as François Zanin, César Rossetti, Hippolyte Défly, Wladislaw de Lenval and François Grosso (whose angel of the monumental tomb seems bless the city), whose names are also the geography of the city.