On Thursday, April 4, 2024, we had the opportunity to attend a tour of the National Theatre of Nice, particularly focusing on the history of this former Franciscan church.
The theater is labeled a National Dramatic Center, and its role is to produce original creations and make them accessible to the general public. According to the status, different ticket prices are offered, ranging from 5 to 35 €. The theater should be accessible to everyone, “you can’t tell someone: we cannot accommodate you,” says the director of the TNN, Muriel Mayette-Holtz.
During this visit, the National Theatre of Nice revealed a whole host of secrets about the theater and the cultural venue itself. They have managed to preserve the various periods of change of the Franciscan church, leaving visible, for example, some beams and fragments of green marble. During the visit, we were also able to discover the backstage of the National Theatre of Nice, including the dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, and even the artists’ entrance.
The Incredible History of the Franciscan Church
The CDN of Nice has existed for how long? Very recently, for the past two seasons. The National Theatre of Nice was once housed in a tent on the “tête carrée” in 1969, inaugurated by Gabriel Monnet. The Nice theatre was inaugurated in 1989 and was demolished two years ago in 2022, following the project for the expansion of the green corridor. Since then, the National Theatre of Nice has settled in this former Franciscan building. “A proud and renovated place by local craftsmen who were able to implement their skills,” adds the TNN director Muriel Mayette-Holtz.
The walls of the National Theatre of Nice have undergone several periods of change. Dating back to the 13th century, this building was once an old convent of the Franciscan church. Later on, in the 1970s, it was transformed into a storage space for refrigerators. It was the city of Nice that bought the walls of the former church, formerly a garbage depot, to renovate it and turn it into a cultural venue. It was in 2022 that the TNN moved into an abandoned building next to the Franciscan church, which was once a hotel called the “Aigle d’Or.”
During the renovation, the city of Nice discovered several tombs while digging the ground of the building. The discovery of this cemetery was quite a surprise. The archaeological excavations revealed that the Saint-François Square is also a continuation of this cemetery.
