Each year, the people of Nice and faithful followers pay homage to Saint Reparate, the patron saint of Nice and Florence, on her dedicated day.
Saint Reparate was a young Christian saint, virgin, and martyr, originating from Caesarea in Palestine, who is believed to have died in 250, during the reign of Emperor Decius (249-251), amidst the persecution he led against new religions, including Christianity.
According to tradition, Reparate’s ordeal began with fire, but she was saved by a providential downpour. Her tormentors tried to make her swallow boiling pitch, but she miraculously survived the ordeal. She was eventually decapitated.
Her body, placed in a boat, drifted across the Mediterranean. Angels supposedly guided the vessel to the shores of Nice, thus giving their name to the famous bay of Nice. The remains of the Saint were buried in a chapel located in the old town before being placed in 1690 in the cathedral erected on the site of the old chapel.
Consecrated in 1699, it was placed under Reparate’s protection, as evidenced by the painting that surmounts the high altar in the choir of the edifice.
