The Church of Saint-Joseph is local for the population in east Nice north of the port and close to the shopping-centre known as TNL. It was built in 1911. It had become a bit neglected as a building, just part of the street. However now, 100 years after it was built, it been subjected to a renovation which is also a full "make-over". This is the result.
At three in the morning 2 million cubic tons of rock and mud slid down the valley, literally cutting the
village in half and leaving 19 dead.
It was in November 1926 and the village was Roquebillière (pronounced “rockabilly”) in the Vésubie Valley in
the hills behind Nice.
There was talk of razing the village, but over the years the people returned.
In 1971 the Gendarmes and the army were mobilised and the villagers were evacuated following an alert.
However it was in 1997 that the process for the permanent evacuation of the village was restarted as a result of a report by the geological and mining research office on perceived
risks.
At the end of November 2010 the village’s 250 residents are to be evacuated permanently and without hope of
return.
I was baffled. Roquebillière is on the road up the valley which leads to Saint-Martin-Vésubie. The old part
of the village must be in a dangerous location so I went to see for myself. There in the bottom of the valley was the Templar Church and a few houses.
I went back across the valley to the main village and, this being France, had a coffee. Madame who runs the local restaurant and café Au Vieux Roc’ was busy instructing her staff (her husband) on what works he should do about the place and took time off to prepare my coffee. She thoroughly approved of my wish to sit on the little terrace since it was a lovely autumn day.
I asked her about the part of the village to be evacuated, indicating the direction of the Templar Church. Oh
no, she said, that way. There was more of the village up the hill ? No, this bit - here.The part indicated was the main village along the Vésubie road.
It did not look very dangerous to me and there were no cliffs that I could see. The experts, Madame
explained. The villagers have their own experts and they say that it is safe. Apparently it is something to do with pools of water, but there are pools of water everywhere, she added.
I did not get the impression that the villagers had the slightest intention of going anywhere.
The Templar Church, Saint-Michel-de-Gast, already existed in 1141, the date on which it was donated
to the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem. The Chapel of the White Penitents in the main part of the village was built in 1610. This is not a new village. However let’s not understimate the risks
- there were earthquakes in the 14th. 15th. and 16th. Centuries.
I think that I had better go back and take another look, perhaps earlier in the day. I like the idea of lunch
Au Vieux Roq’.
The Basilica of Notre-Dame on Nice’s main shopping-street, avenue
Jean-Médecin, was designed by architect Louis Lenormand (1801-1862). Lenormand was one of the first architects to work for the French commission of historic monuments and was
insepctor of works at the Madeleine in Paris.
The Basilica of Notre-Dame in Nice was designed in the particularly French style called Angevin Gothic, inspired by the 12th. Century Cathedral in Angers. The Nice Basilica was built between 1864
and 1868 to Lenormand’s designs. It has two 65 metre high towers with a giant Rosary window between.
The restored façade was unveiled today, 16th. August 2010, at a Mass presided over by Bishop Mgr. Louis Sankalé and attended by the Mayor Christian Estrosi and local Deputy
Eric Ciotti with several hundred locals.
A Basilica is a term used in the ranking of Churches (as distinct from the pre-Gothic architectural term, the “plan basilical”) and, in very general terms, indicates a Church of
importance, but ranking lower than a Cathedral (the exception being Papal or major Basilicas which outrank all other Churches). In this instance, Nice’s Cathedral is Ste. Réparate in the
Old Town, but Notre-Dame can be seen as the main urban Church.
It is this central urban prominence which makes the restoration of its façade notable. Government Minister and Mayor Christian Estrosi is strong in emphasizing that Nice’s culture is Christian
and comes from a long Christian tradition, stretching back for over a Millenium.
In today’s uneasy jostling for position and identity across many countries, this clear sense of origin and place - publicly stated, publicly emphasized - allows for the acceptance of and respect
for those from other cultures who move here - with the very strong warning: only if they accept French, and so Christian, culture as it is. It is the outsider - the immigrant - the stranger who
must adjust to the reality and strength of French culture. That culture will not adjust in its sense of identity and history for the sake of the stranger. “Français ou voyou” as the
President, Nicholas Sarkozy recently said.
A tough message, but clear. Fit in - or ship out.
The little Chapel of Saint Joseph in the district of Aighetta in Eze is not quite finished yet, but work is progressing.
On the road which links the Moyenne Corniche with the Grande Corniche above Eze, Aighetta is an attractive largely new district has seen its population of a thousand in 2001 reach two and a half thousand today.
Planned in 2002, the Chapel of Saint Joseph has been designed by the three architects Olivier Tampn-Lajariette, Pascal Ceillier and Joseph Nieto at a cost of 1.3 million euros.
The most spectacular feature of the Chapel is the 18 metre high, 2 ton block with a pierced cross, designed by Draguinan artist Beppo.
After Beauvais and Amiens, it is the third tallest Cathedral in France and was
one of the most ambitious projects in the 13th. Century French Kingdom.
Dedicated to Saint Just and Saint Pasteur, it replaced the 9th. Century Carolingian Cathedral of Saint Théodard. It was the former Archbishop of Narbonne, Pope
Clement IV who decided on the construction of the Gothic Cathedral in Narbonne. The architect chosen was Jean Deschamps who had designed the Cathedrals of Limoges and
Clermont-Ferrand.
In the form of a Latin Cross. The Choir (the head of the Cross) was finished but the Transept (the arms of the Cross) and the Nave (the foot of the Cross) were barely started.
Nearly 700 years later, that is how it remains.
The reasons for this included a lack of resources and the hostility of the Consuls, but it was the accumulation of misfortunes which afflicted the town in the first half of the 14th. Century
which brought the project to a halt.
The plagues of 1348 and 1355 disheartened the population followed by the ravaging and pillaging of Edward of Woodstock - the Black Prince. There was great concern about
fortifications and there was a serious judicial conflict between the Church and Consuls stopping works to the Cathedral abutting the town’s walls. The Cathedral remained unfinished.
Over the Centuries there have been a number of projects to finish the works, culminating with Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in 1840.
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