Urban stroll at Castle hill

Climb the Castle hill

We took a morning walk to Castle hill in Nice. Go to the end of the Promenade, there you’ll find a stair going uphill called Montee Lesage (there is an elevator if you don’t want to take the stairs). On the way up you have a stunning view of the Bay of Angels and the beach until the airport and over the Cours Saleya and the center of Nice. The path is bordered with trees (which gives you some nice shadow when it’s hot) and beautiful flowers.

The Castle of Nice was a military citadel. Built at the top of a hill, it stood overlooking the bay of Nice from the 11th century to the 18th century and was destroyed in a battle in 1706.

Nowadays, Castle Hill is used as a park that you find at 92 meters high and the highest point in Nice with its 500 stairs to climb. It’s a popular place for sport activities with fresh lawn, and a playground. 

It offers many amazing panoramas, and provides a beautiful view all day long from sunrise to sundown, highlighting various landscapes depending on where one looks: the Harbor at sunrise, the Promenade des Anglais at sundown. That’s why Castle Hill is called “the cradle of the sun”.

At the east end you have a nice view of the Old Port of Nice.

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Art in different shapes

Around the platform you’ll find nice paintings and mosaic art. 
At the north part of the hill is a graveyard “le cimetière du Château”, also called the “Père Lachaise” of Nice, with 3000 spectacular decorated graves. 
Close to this there is an artificial waterfall that was built at the end of the 19th century.

We went down the old village path passing a memorial for the Jewish deportees during world war II and the Chapelle de la visitation Ste Claire, a beautiful church.

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Cannon shot

Every day, punctually at noon, you can hear a cannon shot which comes from  Castle Hill. The story tells that a Scottish lord was firing his cannon to notify his wife to come back from the city center to prepare for lunch (she was very gossipy and forgot about the time) . But another story tells that it is to synchronize the clocks. 

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