A stage visit of the restoration works of the Saint-Pons abbey church was organized. It was an opportunity to take stock at the halfway point. The reopening is scheduled for May 2019.
“Let us together preserve this baroque cultural building, a secular witness to the history of Nice!” These are the words of Jean-Luc Gag, Municipal Councilor delegated to historical heritage, archaeology, archives, literature, the fight against illiteracy, theater, and the Niçois language.
Yesterday afternoon, on the occasion of the first French edition of Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving, the City of Nice invited the press to a stage visit of the restoration works of the Saint-Pons abbey church.
This stage visit provided the opportunity to review the end-of-year progress of the works already completed, to present the workshops offered to donors, and to relaunch the fundraising for the restoration of this building organized with the support of the Heritage Foundation.
The Church of Saint-Pons, listed as a historical monument since 1913, has been closed to the public since 1999. Threatened by degradation, it is now undergoing a general restoration program by the City to highlight the richness of its history and its Turin-inspired architecture. A multitude of relics are scattered inside the Abbey. Two fragments of Saint-Pons’ tomb are said to be already at the Archaeological Museum of Nice, while the rest are believed to be inside the holy place.
“This program is part of a complete restoration of the Pasteur 2 Hospital,” declared Jean-Luc Gag. A staircase will be built—funded by the hospital’s works—to create a junction between the hospital and the Abbey. The renovation work began in October 2016 for an opening to the public scheduled for mid-2019. The complete restoration of the building is estimated at nearly 2.5 million euros.
