Tension at Nice's Russian Cathedral

After years of legal conflicts, the Russian Cathedral in Nice is finally open to the public once more. It's one of the biggest tourist attractions of the French Riviera, with 273,000 visitors in 2010. Now the Russian state has taken control, putting an end to eighty years of White Russian management.  In this, the centenary year of the Cathedral's consecration, it's fascinating to look at the story of this beautiful building and the tragedy, politics and passion running through its history.
 
At the recent Nice book festival, one of the Russian authors made a comment that he feared the rise of the Russian Orthodox Church and its links with the State. It seems that the post-communist Russian government is looking for a new national identity, and wants to make the Orthodox Church a key part. And the process is extending into the West, as Russia looks to take back control of the Russian Churches dotted around Europe, and use them as cultural centres.

Vladimir Putin has taken a personal interest in the process, even devoting $1M to restoring a cemetery in Paris, and planning to invest in a huge Orthodox Church and Russian cultural centre near the Eiffel Tower.

The association running the Nice Cathedral since 1931 has been doing so in the name of the Russian Orthodox churches in Western Europe that rejected Revolution and Bolshevism, and became attached to the Church of Constantinople. It's been effectively run by White Russians. After a court judgment, confirmed on appeal, in February this year the Parish council running the Nice Cathedral was ordered to hand the keys over to the Russian State. Now a priest has been appointed from Moscow, and the Cathedral is part of the Moscow Church once more. Over the next couple of years the Church is to be renovated inside and out, using funds provided by the Russian State and by private donations.

Is it the end of an era? Maybe, but not if the judgment is overturned on a second appeal. And the French state has been careful to declare the Church and its contents part of France's national heritage, so they cannot be sold off or exported. Nice's Mayor, Christian Estrosi initially supported the group running the Cathedral, the "White Russians", before coming to terms with the new owners and posing for a photo with the new Priest. He has pushed the Russian authorities to open the Cathedral to the public once more.

What about the history of this Cathedral? Back in the days when Nice was ruled from Turin, as part of Sardinia-Piedmont, Russians started coming to the city to spend the winters here, and to recover from illnesses.

By the 1850s the widow of Russian Emperor Nicolas I was staying in Nice and the local Russian community asked her to intervene with the King in Turin to ask if they could build a church. In 1859 the first Russian church in Nice was built in Rue Longchamp. When the Turin King gave his agreement to this church, he insisted on it being a simple building without obvious religious appearance. But the local architect who took on the job couldn't resist the opportunity to build a cupola. You can still see it today.

As the community grew, so the church became less suitable because it was too small, and eventually the local community decided to build a new Church out on the West side on Nice. It is situated on the site of a villa used by the Russian Royal Family for vacations in Nice. It's here that the Russian Crown Prince died of meningitis. A beautiful mausoleum was built there in his honour.

The costs of the Cathedral were enormous, and forty percent of these were met by the Czar himself, with the rest coming from the Russian state and wealthy donors.

One thing that often puzzles visitors is why there are two great entrances to the Cathedral. In fact the original architectural designs were made for a site on the corner of Rue Berlioz and Rue Verdi, but the ground here was too unstable to withstand the weight of the building without some major and expensive foundations, and when the site moved to Boulevard Tsarevitch, the design stayed unchanged.

The Cathedral is open to the public starting July 1st 2012 every day from 9.00 to 12.00 and from 14.00 to 18.00, entry free of charge. You can find it at Boulevard Tsarewitch, Nice.