His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, will visit the city of Nice from September 7th to 9th, 2012. On this occasion, a mass will be celebrated at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame on Sunday, September 9th, at 11:30 AM.
All the active forces of the Armenian community in France will be mobilized around their Church* and its legitimate representatives designated and recognized by the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, for the Church is a major pillar of the history, present, and future of the Armenian people, both in the diaspora and in the homeland.
In France, the Armenian Diocese, under the authority of His Eminence, Archbishop Norvan Zakarian, and the spiritual and secular framework put in place in this context, works tirelessly to allow French people of Armenian descent to visit places of worship and pursue spiritual practices.
The Armenian Community in Nice
On April 24, 1915, the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire decided to eliminate the Armenian minority living in what is now Turkey and organized the deportation and massacre of one and a half million Armenians. During this genocide, many Armenians fled abroad, generally to the European coasts of the Mediterranean, including to Nice, (though a large number went to the United States).
Today in Nice there are over 6,000 Armenians, a large part of whom have been living in the Madeleine district since 1920.
At 281 of the same boulevard is one of the first churches of the Armenian Apostolic Church built in France. It is dated 1928, the year of its consecration by Mgr Maghakia Balakian, then Bishop of Marseille.
A presbytery, built in 1953 by Calouste Gulbenkian°, in memory of his wife Neuvart, who passed away in Nice (Caucade), adjoins the Holy Mary church.
An Armenia Garden near the Albert 1st Gardens was inaugurated in 2007 with the presence of Mr. Kotcharian, President of the Republic of Armenia.
