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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Divers
  3. Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur
  4. Alpes-Maritimes
  5. 06400 Cannes

  6. Saint George

Saint George dans les Alpes-Maritimes

Alpes-Maritimes

Saint George

    29 Avenue du Roi Albert 1er
    06400 Cannes
Photo de Saint George

Timeline

XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1900
2000
1884
Death of Prince Leopold
1886-1887
Construction and consecration
6 avril 1890
Inauguration of the gissant
1970
Sale to the diocese of Nice
3 juillet 2020
Registration for historical monuments
19 décembre 2023
Complete classification
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The whole of the building complex of Saint George's Church, former Anglican Church, comprising the church with all its interior decorations and the cenotaph of the Duke of Albany, the court and its approach, the staircase of access to the court, the mortuary chapel, the dependence for the use of shed, the landscape surrounding the church as well as the fence and its entrance gates, as delimited in red on the plan annexed to the decree, located 29 avenue du Roi-Albert I, on Parcel No. 18, appearing in the cadastre section CM: classification by decree of 19 December 2023

Key figures

Prince Léopold d'Angleterre, duc d'Albany - Church dedication Son of Queen Victoria, died in Cannes.
Albert Edward, prince de Galles - Sponsor Initiator of construction in 1886.
Reine Victoria - Visitor and donor Three times and offered a memorial bench.
Arthur Blomfield - Architect Designed the building in an English Gothic style.
Ernest Pellegrini - Sculptor Author of the Duke of Albany.
Frederick William Pomeroy - Sculptor Realized the statue of Saint Georges on the facade.

Origin and history

The Saint-Georges church of Cannes, located 29 avenue du Roi-Albert-Ier in the California-Pezou district, was built in 1886-1887 on the initiative of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, in memory of his brother, Prince Leopold of England, Duke of Albany, who died accidentally at Cannes in 1884. This project, funded by a subscription from the local English colony, aimed to honour the deceased while affirming British architectural know-how. The building, designed by London architect Arthur Blomfield in an eclectic Gothic style, was dedicated to Anglican worship on February 12, 1887 in the presence of the Prince of Wales and visited three times by Queen Victoria.

The monument is distinguished by its typically English architecture, combining pink sandstone and white limestone, with a central nave, two collaterals, and a bell tower topped by a polygonal arrow. Inside, a gissant of the Duke of Albany, carved by Ernest Pellegrini and inaugurated in 1890, as well as stained glass, mosaics and ironware imported from England, testify to his origin. The church, surrounded by a garden planted with palm trees, was initially associated with a villa serving as a presbytery. It also housed an English organ of the Willis type, taken over by the Swiss manufacturer Goll in 1908.

Sold to the diocese of Nice in 1970, Saint George's Church was assigned to Roman Catholic worship in 1974, while preserving its original architectural and artistic heritage. Ranked a historic monument on 19 December 2023 after a partial inscription in 2020, it now embodies a religious, memorial and cultural heritage, linked to the history of the British presence on the French Riviera. Its parvis, its mortuary chapel, and its landscape are an integral part of heritage protection.

Prince Leopold's memory is also honoured in the city by a fountain erected in 1887 Boulevard des Pins and a stone bench donated by Queen Victoria on Place de la Castre. These elements, associated with the church, underline the lasting impact of the English royal family on the Cannoese heritage, in a context where Cannes became, in the 19th century, a popular destination of the European aristocracy.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum