Cimiez Monastery park

Cimez is now a quarter of Nice, an upper class neighborhood. Besides Cimez Monastry, the area contains Henri Matisse Museum and the Roman Ruins, consisting of arena, amphitheatre, thermal baths, and paleochristian basilica. On the ground of Roman Ruins Jazz festival of Nice takes place every year in July. In Roman times it was called Cemenelum; on the Ligurian coast as a city it was an important rival of Nice, continuing to exist as a separate city till the time of the Lombard invasions.

The Monastère de Cimiez (Cimiez Monastery) and church that have been used by the Franciscan monks since the 16th century can be found here. The church owns "La piéta", "La Cruxifiction" and the "Déposition", three of the most important works from the medieval artist Louis Bréa. On display are more than 300 documents and works of art from the 15th to 18th centuries. Among these are a large gilded wood Baroque alter piece with a fallen Jesus on it, and a Seraphic Cross from 1477. In the monastery's cemetery there are buried some famous people like the painters Henri Matisse and Raoul Dufy, or the winner of the 1937 Nobel Prize for Literature, Roger Martin du Gard. The monastery was built by the Franciscans in the early 16th century. In the 17th century it was still a convent, an active monastery. Its small museum showcases the Franciscan way of life from the 18th century to modern day. The monastery grounds contain a magnificent rose garden and breathtaking views across Nice toward the sea. It is opened from 10 am to 12 am and from 3 pm to 6 pm every day except Sunday and some holidays. There is no entrance fee.