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Origin and history

The Holy Spirit Temple, formerly the American Episcopal Church Holy Spirit Church, is a reformed Protestant building located at 21 Victor-Hugo Boulevard in Nice. Built in 1886 by architect W.G. Haberson, it was inaugurated in 1888 for the American Episcopalian community wintering on the French Riviera. Its neogothic style, rare in the region, distinguishes it from other Nice buildings. The church was sold in 1974 to the Reformed Church of France after the decline of its original community, notably after the departure of the American fleet in 1966.

Originally, the French-speaking Protestant Reformed community in Nice shared the Vaudian temple on Gioffredo Street with the Vaudian Evangelical Church. In 1902, she acquired a building called Dubouchage Boulevard, which she occupied for seventy years. Faced with maintenance problems in the 1970s, she bought the former Holy Spirit church and its presbytery, abandoned by the American Episcopalians. The temple, its facades, roofs and fences have been listed as historical monuments since May 26, 2020.

This monument illustrates the history of Protestant communities in Nice, marked by the influence of foreign winterers in the 19th century. Its English neogothic architecture, atypical in the city, reflects this period of cosmopolitanism. Today, it is attached to the United Protestant Church of France and remains an active place of worship, while bearing witness to the religious and architectural heritage of Nice.

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