Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castles of Valrose, located in the eponymous area of Nice, constitute a ten-hectare estate between Avenue de Brancolar and Cimiez Hill. This site, one of the few large properties in Nice to preserve its original dimensions, now houses the scientific campus of Nice-Sophia-Antipolis University. Its history began in 1867, when Baron Paul von Derwies, a Russian financier and adviser to the Tsar Alexander II, acquired plots to erect a sumptuous estate, a symbol of the extravagance of the Riviera at the end of the 19th century.

The site, conducted from 1867 to 1870, mobilized more than 800 workers under the direction of architects David Grimm, Antonio Croci, and Constantin Scala for the large castle, and Antoine Béranger for the small castle. In 1869 Mikhail Makaroff added a theatre transformed into a concert hall, while the horticulturalist Joseph Carlès, creator of the gardens of Monte Carlo, built the park with Italian plants, greenhouses, a rose garden, and picturesque elements such as a Ukrainian isba or false ruins. The estate, maintained by a hundred people, becomes a worldly and musical place of life, welcoming symphonic orchestras and virtuosos such as Joseph Joachim or Adelina Patti.

The fascination culminated in 1881 with a reception for Grand Duke Nicolas, Baron von Derwies died shortly afterwards, in June 1881. The property then changed hands several times: sold in 1912 to Poutiloff, then in 1920 to the Bolivian pewter magnate Simón Iturri Patiño, who ascribed his name to it at the entrance. In 1950, the city of Nice purchased the estate to transfer it to the National Education School, which in 1965 established the Faculty of Science. The large castle, the small castle, and the park with its factories are classified as historical monuments on July 22, 1991.

The park, designed as a vegetal setting, incorporates Mediterranean and exotic species, with water pieces, fountains, and waterfalls. A monumental portal, built in 1881 by Sébastien-Marcel Biasini, marks the eastern entrance to the estate. Queen Victoria, staying at the Excelsior Régina Palace, regularly went there for a walk in the olive grove. The ensemble illustrates the golden age of the Riviera, where aristocrats and international fortunes shape a unique architectural and landscape landscape.

The bankruptcy of Von Derwies Bank in 1899 marked the decline of the estate, which gradually lost its original chandelier. Despite changes in owners and transformations, the site retains remarkable elements such as the 400-seat concert hall, equipped with wooden machinery, or luxurious interior decorations (frescoes, crystal chandeliers, master canvases). Today, the Valrose campus perpetuates this heritage by associating it with an educational and scientific vocation.

Future

In 1950, the city of Nice bought the entire field and returned it to the National Education to install the Valrose campus, the seat of the presidency of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis and the Faculty of Science since 1965.

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