Day 2861 (Tuesday) 8th April 2025
This is the flower market (cours saleya) in Nice
and this the Gorges du Verdon.
After a few days of cloudiness it was lovely and sunny again today so we took the scooter over to Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat. They have finally started work on the wall where we used to keep the scooter – let’s hope it’ll be done by the time the tourists start coming, because it will be difficult to park on the seafront then.
We went to see the Chapel of Saint-Hospice.
The chapel of Saint-Hospice is a Catholic chapel built in the 17th century on the ruins of a tower that housed Saint Hospice , located on the point of the same name near Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in the Alpes-Maritimes
Historical
According to tradition (and reported in Gregory of Tours' Historia Francorum ), Saint Hospice was an anchorite living in a ruined tower in the 6th century. He did penance to redeem society, which was deemed dissolute, and to be able to worship God without constraint. He brought about miraculous cures. After his death in 581, his cult developed in the County of Nice.
The Mediterranean coast then suffered Saracen invasions. The Count of Provence drove them out in 983 and brought a period of relative tranquility.
The oldest mention of a Saint-Hospice church dates from 1075 in the charter of Saint-Pons. It is reputed to have been built on the site of the tower where Saint-Hospice had lived.
In 1615, the chapel was located in the centre of a fort built by Charles to oppose looting. In 1655, Charles-Emmanuel II of Savoy ordered Balthazar Simeone, governor of the fort, to rebuild the chapel in the state in which we know it today. The Saint-Hospice fort which protected the entrance to the harbour of Villefranche was destroyed in 1706 on the orders of Louis XIV .
The chapel suffered damage during the Revolutionary period. It was restored and reopened for worship in 1801.
A portico was built on the north side, which is the entrance, in 1826 by King Charles-Felix.
A procession was organised for the saint's feast day on the Sunday following the October 16It brought together faithful from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat , Beaulieu , Villefranche and Monaco .
Processions were also organised during calamities: droughts in 1806 and 1869, a cholera epidemic in 1834.
The fishermen of the surrounding area were particularly attached to this cult because of the danger of their profession due to the whims of the Mediterranean, but also to late pirates.
The chapel is listed as a historical monument by decree of May 13, 1929. The site of the chapel is also listed, in May 1932, then classified the following June.
The large statue of the Virgin and Child
In 1903, an imposing 11 m high bronze statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child was built near the chapel. It was commissioned by the Nice olive oil merchant Auguste Gal from the Milanese sculptor Galbusieri to mark the fulfillment of a wish. The statue was to stand at the top of the tower on his property, but the military authorities opposed this.
It was moved to its current location in 1937 by the chocolatier Jacques Menier, who had acquired the property where the statue stood.
This is a bit OTT, you can see how big it is with Huw standing beside it.
This is inside the church
Surrounding this chapel are graveyards, one of which is the Belgian War Cemetery of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, which is a World War I war cemetery located on Chemin de l'Hospice in the French town of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.
Features
It is included in the city's municipal cemetery below the Saint-Hospice chapel. The 90 soldiers buried there died in the Belgian military hospital specialising in lung diseases located in the former property of King Leopold II , Les Cèdres , located nearby.
The graveyard by the sea
12 chemin de Saint-Hospice, 06230 Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Nestled at the top of the headlands of Saint-Hospice, the local cemetery of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat appears otherworldly. It was created in 1905 thanks to the generosity of Auguste Gal, a rich merchant from Nice, who provided the land.
Located at the foot of the Saint-Hospice chapel and the bronze Madonna, the graveyard by the sea overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and offers exceptional views. A great place for peacefulness and contemplation.
On the way home we stopped to do some shopping and to get some bread form Huw’s favourite boulangerie – they do love a cactus in Beaulieu.
And all the flowers are slowly coming back.
This was Badger last night – how many legs has he got?
I can just imagine getting Badger in a bath!
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