The Cannon of Midday

The office was silent. Suddenly, a “BOOM!” broke the “sound of silence”.

Myriam, my work colleague although she is from Nice, replied to me: “Did you hear that? It sounded like a bomb!” I quickly reassured her by explaining that “For a good while, every day of the year, You hear exploding in Nice, late in the morning, An explosion of all the devils that comes from the Castle, Once it was a cannon, today it’s a firecracker.” as Georges TASSO writes, member of the Acadèmia Nissarda (“That’s been happening for a good while, every day of the year, You hear exploding in Nice, late in the morning, An explosion of all the devils that comes from the Castle, Once it was a cannon, today it’s a firecracker.”) At 24 years old, she had never noticed it.

So let us turn back the hands of time.

Will you believe me if I tell you that it is a woman who is at the origin of the noon cannon shot in Nice?

In the 1860s, Sir Thomas Coventry, in love with the French Riviera, took residence in Old Nice with his wife. Every day, at lunch time, his companion would be late returning from her morning walk. It must be said that she was somewhat of a gossip and would easily forget what time it was.

This former colonel of the English army found a solution to remedy his wife’s tardiness: “Fire a cannon at noon”. Sir Coventry shared his idea with Mayor Malausséna, letting him know that he would bear all the costs and would provide the small cannon. The proposal was accepted. The famous clock was therefore installed, which rang out only once a day on the lower terrace of the Castle above Rauba Capieu. Each day, a colored globe was hoisted on a mast above the Chauvin hotel where Sir Coventry resided and would fall. At this signal, a municipal employee lit the cannon’s fuse. It was noon.

But once, the English gentleman left the Côte d’Azur taking with him in his luggage the cannon shot. Nice became orphaned of this daily timepiece. This absence caused quite a stir throughout the city. The population complained about the discrepancies between the various public clocks. To appease the spirits, the municipality eventually brought this famous clock back to life.

Today, the “sound” of the cannon has become part of Nice’s customs but the small cannon has been replaced by a firecracker.

On November 19, 2005, it will have been 120 years since the municipal order reinstated “Lou Canoun de Miejour”. And yes, it will have been 120 years that the people of Nice go to lunch when they hear the noon cannon shot, or should I rather say the cannon shot of Lady Coventry!

Audrey Bollaro