Musée Masséna, Nice, France

Originally built as a holiday home for Prince Victor d’Essling (the grandson of one of Napoleon’s favourite generals, Maréchal Massena), the lavish belle-époque Musée Masséna is another of the city’s iconic architectural landmarks. Built between 1898 and 1901 in grand neoclassical style with an Italianate twist, it’s now a fascinating museum dedicated to the history of the Riviera – taking in everything from holidaying monarchs to expat Americans, the boom of tourism and the enduring importance of Carnival.

Although the museum itself is rather spotty and unfocused, the sumptuous villa is a pleasure to explore. There are some very intriguing artifacts, artworks and displays (especially on Napoleon), but you will probably not catch the full significance due to complete lack of English explanations; and even if you do read French, the signs are dryly written and difficult to read.

The first floor is decorated with artwork, antique furnishings and personal effects from the Massena family that built this home, and whose family history was deeply entwined with Napoleon and the history of Nice. The second floor is consecrated on thematic elements of the history of Nice from the 19th century through just before WWII, including military memorabilia and uniforms.

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Museums in France

User Reviews

Sarah Elder (3 years ago)
Beautiful museum. Mosaic floors. Empress Josephine's coronation Cape and diadem. Beautiful fin de siecle posters for the height of French Riviera chic. Photos , paintings and maps. There are toilets downstairs. Staff at the ticket office were lovely. Security staff were very present.

Lam Dinh (3 years ago)
Beautiful museum in the heart of Nice. I took my 3 year old daughter here and they had a LEGO exhibit at the time, which was really neat to see amongst the historical elements of the building. You can get through the whole museum and under an hour, and its central location in Nice makes it easy to stop by after visiting the beach.

Volodymyr H (3 years ago)
Great historical location in Nice, definitely worth visiting. You can take an audio tour guide. Beautiful interiors and garden, take your time and enjoy such a great location. We liked garden the most with orange trees and palms surrounding the villa.

Melania Usai (3 years ago)
Surprisingly more interesting than I expected. Much more than the Residential Villa in golden finishing that I thought it was. It's a great trip through history. A storyteller of the City development into a holiday winter destination of North European aristocracy. Includes excellent examples of fashion jewellery, outfits and memorabilia. Highly recommended. The garden is also worth a stroll.

Drago (3 years ago)
The Villa itself is impressive and large. There are 3 different floors with the top one being reserved for temporary exhibitions. I would warn people that most of the tour is in french which makes it complicated to understand what we are looking at. Otherwise great visit and fully worth the price.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Mark1792

Historic Site of the week

Rosenborg Castle

Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.

The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.

Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.

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