Another gem of Nice - The last piece of the puzzle of my visit to this city

While I was walking through the streets of the old town of Nice, my eyes saw a hill that I had to go around 🙂

The plan was to take the elevator to the top of the hill, but as we were late and the elevator was not working, the only option was the stairs, which led up the hill to Belinda's tower and to the hill itself.

It's a famous hill above old Nice, the Colline du Château that hides an incredibly rich and turbulent history.

Although today there is a beautiful park with a famous waterfall and panoramic viewpoints, for centuries it was the very heart and impenetrable fortress of this part of the Mediterranean.

Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the 92 m high rock was chosen as the site for the formation of a trading colony called Nikala (in honor of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike), after which the city probably got its name.
The fortress at the height provided a strategic advantage in the defense of the city, a natural protection against barbarian attacks, and with the source of drinking water on the top of the hill, it was secured against longer sieges.
In the centuries that followed, a fortified city was formed on this hill, with impregnable ramparts and a magnificent castle. For this reason, this hill is called the hill with the castle, although there is not a single trace of the castle today.
The culprit for this is the French king Louis XIV, who in 1705, after conquering the city, had the fortress dismantled stone by stone, so that this defiant fortress (as part of the Italian principalities) would never again defy France.
The stone that was then obtained from the ruined fortified city was used to build the old town of Nice at the foot of the hill and pave the streets, as well as part of the English promenade.

Walking through the park, apart from the fantastic viewpoints where you can see some of the most beautiful views of the city of Nice and the port of Lymipa, you will have the opportunity to admire the remains from ancient Greece, paved paths, the remains of the Cathedral of St. Mary from the 11th century (under whose foundations, the remains of a much older Christian cathedral from the 5th century were found during excavations), and one of the biggest attractions on this hill is the beautiful waterfall.

(A marble slab that once stood above the main entrance to the fortified city glorifying Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy and King of Sicily and Sardinia who expanded and improved the port and city of Nice, which at that time belonged to Italy)

(One of the first orienteering boards installed in France. this one was set up by members of the Touring club de France association in 1903.)

In one of the previous posts, in which I wrote about the tour of the old center of Nice, when I mentioned that I had a hard time orienting myself in the narrow streets and that everything became clear to me only when I looked at the city from this hill, you will understand from these photos.

Although there was a source of market water on the hill, this waterfall is not a work of nature. It was built in 1885 in the place where the main defense tower of the old fortified city used to be, and apart from aesthetics, it served as a safety overflow system for the first modern aqueduct that supplied the city with drinking water.
Today it is an attraction, which on a hot day provides perfect refreshment, creating a cloud of tiny droplets that are created by falling water from a great height and it is a part of the park with a beautiful background for photography.

https://youtube.com/shorts/cbAB3NfgSN4?si=JG2Eimc5JvlZGrvn

When you go up the stairs, or when you go back down the hill, the first and last symbol of this hill is the Belanda Tower (Tour Bellanda). It is one of the most photogenic and historically interesting symbols of Nice.

It is located on the southwestern slope of the Chateau Hill, from where it proudly watches over the Bay of Angels.
Although today it looks like a romantic viewpoint, its past was extremely dynamic.

It survived the wrath of Louis XIV in 1705, when he ordered the entire fortress on the hill razed to the ground so that Nice could never resist again. It was originally called Tour Saint-Elme and served as a massive artillery bastion built in the 16th century to defend against attacks from the sea.
The French mined it and badly damaged it, but its massive circular foundation was so solid that it partially survived the explosion.
For more than a century it stood as a ruin, until in 1824 a local enthusiast bought it and rebuilt it in its present recognizable form, giving it the name Bellanda.

At this place we started our tour of this sublime diamond of the city of Nice and at the same place, in the calm of the day, we descend the steep stairs to the promenade and the old center of Nice, ending our tour and stay in this beautiful Mediterranean city.

If you find yourself on a tourist tour of Nice, I definitely recommend visiting the Colline du Château, which you can reach on foot (by climbing the Montée du Château at the end of Rue Rossetti in the Old Town), as I did, or by taking the free historic lift (Ascenseur du Château) from the promenade, or by tourist trolley (Le Petit Train de Nice), which will certainly make your tour much more beautiful and relaxed.

Thank you for stopping by my post and I hope you enjoyed the photos and the story I shared with you

All photos are my property, taken with a mobile phone