Place Masséna
Place Masséna features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Nice. Give it roughly ~20 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type square
- Suggested visit ~20 min
- Nice Nice guide
About Place Masséna
Nice's grand central square: deep-red Turin-style arcades, a giant checkerboard pavement, a marble Apollo once banished as indecent, and seven glowing figures kneeling on masts above the crowds.
Place Masséna is the grand central square of Nice, named after André Masséna, the Nice-born Marshal of Napoleon's empire. Laid out from the 1840s (to a design by Joseph Vernier, 1843-44) over the covered river Paillon, it is framed by red-ochre 'Turin-red' arcaded buildings and paved in a black-and-white checkerboard. At one end, the Fontaine du Soleil is crowned by a roughly 7-metre white marble Apollo by Alfred Janniot (1956), with bronze planet-figures around the basin; long judged indecent, the statue was removed in the 1970s and only reinstated in 2011. Since 2007 Jaume Plensa's 'Conversation à Nice' has stood over the square: seven kneeling resin figures on tall masts, said to represent the continents, glowing and changing colour at night. Crossed by the tram and used for Carnival and Bastille Day, it lies at the heart of the historic city of Nice.
Did you know? The white marble Apollo on the Sun Fountain was once judged too naked for public view and banished from the square for decades in the 20th century; he was only brought back to his fountain in 2011.
How long is a visit to Place Masséna?
Set aside roughly ~20 min for Place Masséna. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Place Masséna worth your time?
Place Masséna is among the 18 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Nice, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Nice
Hear the story of Place Masséna
Preview the Nice tour free in the Gingerguide app.