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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Patrimoine
  3. Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur
  4. Alpes-Maritimes
  5. 06300 Nice

  6. Regina, formerly Excelsior Hotel Regina

 Regina, formerly Excelsior Hotel Regina à Nice - Le Vieux Nice dans les Alpes-Maritimes

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine de vilégiature
Grand hôtel classé MH
Alpes-Maritimes

Regina, formerly Excelsior Hotel Regina

    71 Boulevard de Cimiez
    06300 Nice
Excelsior Régina Palace de Nice
Regina, anciennement Excelsior Hôtel Regina
Regina, anciennement Excelsior Hôtel Regina
Regina, anciennement Excelsior Hôtel Regina
Regina, anciennement Excelsior Hôtel Regina
Regina, anciennement Excelsior Hôtel Regina
Regina, anciennement Excelsior Hôtel Regina
Regina, anciennement Excelsior Hôtel Regina
Regina, anciennement Excelsior Hôtel Regina
Crédit photo : mwanasimba - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1900
2000
1895
Project launch
1897
Opening of the hotel
1912
Opening of the monument
1920
Repurchase and rename
1935
Auction
1937
Reconversion to condominium
6 juillet 1992
Registration for historical monuments
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Façades and roof of the old hotel, including terraces and stairs; inside the former hotel, veranda, large hall, large staircase and cage, corridors and secondary halls on the raised ground floor with their furnishings and decor elements (woodworks, letterbox blocks, luminaires, ice creams, . . . ); access walkway to the garden above the Regina crossing; garden located on plots 36 and 227, including the factories and facades and roof of the former buvet; monument to Queen Victoria, on the public domain (Box HB 35, 36, 227): inscription by order of 6 July 1992

Key figures

Reine Victoria - British Sovereign Inspirator and first resident of the palace (1897-1899).
Sébastien-Marcel Biasini - Senior Architect Designer of the building and its decoration.
François-Félix Gordolon - Architect and decorator Author of forged irons and metal crown.
Gustave Eiffel - Engineer and industrialist Contributed to the realization of the crown.
Henri Matisse - 20th Century Major Painter Lived and worked in Regina (1938-1943).
Louis Maubert - Sculptor Author of the Queen Victoria Monument (1912).

Origin and history

The Excelsior Regina Palace, built between 1895 and 1897 on the Cimiez hill in Nice, was designed as a luxury hotel to attract the European aristocracy in search of winter climateism. The project began after Queen Victoria's unsatisfactory stay at the Grand Hotel in Cimiez in 1895, pushing investors to build a modern palace with electricity, central heating and a sewerage system. True to her promise, the sovereign stayed there three consecutive winters (1897-1899), consolidating the reputation of the establishment.

During the First World War, the hotel was requisitioned and turned into a military hospital. Rached in 1920 under the name of Hotel Regina, he suffered the decline of colline palaces after the crash of 1929 and the rise of seaside tourism. In 1935, it was auctioned with its furniture, then converted in 1937 into a condominium of 98 apartments. Between 1938 and 1943, painter Henri Matisse lived there and set up his studio there.

The building, designed by the architects Sébastien-Marcel Biasini and François-Félix Gordolon (with a contribution from Gustave Eiffel for the metal crown), extends over 6,260 m2 with facades richly decorated with stucco, doriels and Orientalist touches. Inside, elevators, central heating and electric lighting (Edison lamps) made it a symbol of modernity. The adjacent garden, accessible by a marble bridge, housed tropical plants, a greenhouse, and leisure spaces (badminton, croquet).

A white marble monument, carved by Louis Maubert and inaugurated in 1912, pays tribute to Queen Victoria at the entrance to the park. In 1992, the ensemble (façades, large hall, staircase, garden and statue) was inscribed in historical monuments, preserving a major testimony of the Nice Belle Époque and its architectural heritage.

The hotel also illustrates the urban evolution of Cimiez: old agricultural area transformed into a residential area after 1879, thanks to the arrival of the railway and the enthusiasm for the Riviera. Its decline reflects the tourism changes of the 20th century, marked by the transition from aristocratic winter stays to summer mass tourism.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum