With the annexation of Nice to France, the new station, and the opening of Avenue du Prince Impรฉrial, we witness the development of the Longchamp district where there used to be only watercress beds. The wealthy winter residents choose these places where bourgeois homes are constructed.
These Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox winter residents decided to erect places of worship on the right bank of the Paillon to practice their religions. The Russians were the first in 1859, followed by the Anglicans in 1863 at La Buffa. The Catholics had to cross the old town, then dirty and unhealthy, to reach the cathedral where the services were quite poor, not matching the lavish masses of Paris. There were indeed two churches, the Charitรฉ hospice and Saint Etienne, but both were small, unable to meet the demand of the parishioners. This winter clientele requested the construction of a church in the Longchamp district. Mayor Malaussรฉna refused.
In 1862, Bishop Sola brought a French priest, Father Lavigne, to Nice. He was a Jesuit and a skilled preacher. The latter organized a subscription among the foreign colony, mostly French. The response exceeded his hopes, and by 1863 the plans were drawn. They reflected the neo-Gothic taste of the time and were inspired by Saint Serge of Angers. The building was opened for worship in 1868. The Franco-Prussian War delayed its completion. Father Lavigne died in 1874, and after many vicissitudes, the church was completed in 1879.
The Notre Dame church has an unfinished appearance, lacking the spires that were supposed to adorn the faรงade. Nevertheless, it will be the focal point of the new city and the engine of its expansion. The city will continue to stretch west to the Var, the former border, and other places of worship will be expanded or built, the subjects of an upcoming article.
