Explore Villefranche-sur-Mer

The Citadelle Saint-Elme is a bastioned fortress begun around 1554 for the Dukes of Savoy to guard the harbour of Villefranche-sur-Mer. Bought by the town in 1965, it now holds the town hall, gardens and an art centre with temporary exhibitions; its museum collections, including the sculptures of Volti, have been closed for renovation since 2022.

Castle Hill is the rocky hill between the old town and the port of Nice, where the town's castle stood from the 11th century until Louis XIV had it demolished in 1706. It is now a 19-hectare public park with shaded paths, the remains of the castle and the old cathedral, a waterfall built in 1885 and viewpoints over the Baie des Anges and the harbour.

Nice Cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint Reparata, stands on Place Rossetti in the old town and is the seat of the Bishop of Nice. The Baroque church was built from 1650 to 1685 to plans by the Nice architect J. A. Guibert; the bell tower followed in 1731–1757 and the façade in 1825–1830, and a 39-metre lantern dome rises over the crossing.

Place Masséna is the main square of Nice, between the old town and Avenue Jean-Médecin, named after Marshal André Masséna. Its layout follows a plan by the city architect Joseph Vernier adopted in 1843, with red-ochre arcaded buildings in the style of Turin, and today it has black-and-white chequerboard paving and the Fontaine du Soleil with bronzes by Alfred Janniot.

The Basilica of Notre-Dame is the largest church in Nice, on Avenue Jean-Médecin in the city centre. Built in Neo-Gothic style from 1864, a few years after Nice became French, it takes the cathedrals of Paris and Angers as models: two square towers frame a large rose window with scenes of the Assumption of the Virgin. It was made a minor basilica in 1978.