Activities :
Exhibitions
« Nice, from the shore to the sea »
From 8 may to 21 september 2025
Masséna Museum
Exhibition curators : Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Jérôme Mosso, Jean-Pierre Barbero and François Laquièze, assisted by Robin Cauvin
Scenography & Graphic design : Yannick Mocquais, Jérôme Mosso et Jean-Pierre Barbero ; Xavier Dezetter et ses équipes, Société Megapom
Production : Masséna Museum
Through the exhibition “Nice, from the shore to the sea”, the Masséna Museum explores the relationships that Nice has maintained, throughout its history, with the Mediterranean. From prehistory to today, from the Nikaïa of the Greeks to the winter resort of Queen Victoria, the city has never stopped reinventing its relationship with the shore. Sometimes, fearing threats, it has turned away from them and protected itself. Often, it has made it the horizon of its audacity and its dreams. Today, after hosting the United Nations Conference on the Ocean, Nice is also questioning, more than ever, its responsibility towards this natural environment, which is both fragile and threatened. These relationships will be evoked from several approaches that are translated into a route of rooms in stages: The Mediterranean: from the origins to the myth ; The migration of religions from East to West, the traveling Saints ; The dreaded sea ; The late creation of a port, trade and fishing ; The sea as an object of study ; The invention of the shore, walks and baths ; The concern for the protection of the shore and the sea.
The Valrose estate, the excellence for heritage
14 December 2023 – 31 March 2024
Nice Heritage Centre, 14 rue Jules-Gilly
From Baron Von Derwies to the headquarters of the Côte d’Azur University, the Valrose estate occupies a special place in Nice’s heritage. In the context of the inclusion of “Nice, winter resort town of the Riviera” on the UNESCO World Heritage List, this property shows an example of the evolution of the seasonal residences. Between nature and culture, this heritage is the subject of attentive care and of a vast restoration program. Discover the history of this site and the plans for its future.
(Monday : from 1 to 5 pm; Tuesday to Friday : from 9 am to 1 pm and 2 to 5 pm)
Architecture is child's play!
Looking for a fun cultural activity in the heart of Old Nice? Come along, with or without children, to research, colour, build, play and observe... This exhibition invites you to discover the architecture and heritage of Nice through the medium of children's play.
« Nice, queen of flowers »
Masséna Museum from 10 June to 9 October 2022
Exhibition curators : Jean-Jacques Aillagon with Jean-Paul Potron, Marion Duvigneau, François Laquièze, Jean-Pierre Barbero, assisted by Robin Cauvin and Jérôme Mosso
Scenography & Graphic design: Birgitte Fryland – SCENO
Production : Masséna Museum
Nice, queen of flowers, at the Masséna Museum, will explore the historical and elective affinities of Nice with flowers, their evocation in the decorations of the city’s architecture, their importance in the dissemination of its image, the place of their production and their market in the local economy and their use in the famous battles of flowers which will become one of the signatures of Nice. The visitors will discover 250 pieces in seven steps : « The mythology of flowers », « Where the orange trees bloom », « A blooming city », « The floral patterns in architecture and ornaments », « A lifestyle of blooms », « The industry and marketing of flowers », « Flower battles, a Nice celebration ».
More information about the exhibition (pdf - 115Ko)
More information:
Outdoor exhibition « Nice and its sister cities on the UNESCO World Heritage List »
Download the exhibition panels
A universal promotion platform serving educational, intercultural and scientific exchanges, UNESCO encourages citizen dialogue in favor of peace and better mutual understanding. As twinning fits into the same logic, the recent inclusion of Nice on the UNESCO World Heritage List constitutes a new asset for the decentralized cooperation of the Nice Côte d'Azur Greater Metropolitan Area : the preservation, promotion and transmission of the architectural and landscape heritage of our territory will thus benefit from the exchange of best practices with other sites all around the world.
« Nice, the invention of tourism »
Nice World Heritage Nomination Centre, 75 quai des États-Unis
Bencho Obreshkov, Nice’s landscape, 1939, Sofia, National Gallery of Art © All rights reserved
Download the brochure (6.9 Mo)
The growth of a new city thanks to the development of tourism, its unique urban planning and its special architectural heritage are the object of Nice’s application for the inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
This exhibition presents the different steps that made Nice the capital of the riviera tourism and, a source of inspiration for many artists, writers, musicians and film-makers, starting from 18th century until today. The visitors can also discover the reasons and the procedure of the application.
Summer 2019 « Nice, Cinémapolis » Masséna museum
Exhibition curator: Jean-Jacques Aillagon, assisted by Aymeric Jeudy
Scenography & Graphic design: Kristof Everart & Marcel Bataillard
Production: Jean-Pierre Barbero
In partnership with: Cinémathèque française.
View of the exhibition « Nice, Cinémapolis », Masséna museum, 2019, © Floriane Spinetta
Through a richly documented historical fresco, the exhibition proposed to evoke the intimate relationship that links Nice to the cinema, from its invention by the Lumière brothers until today. This chronology from 1896 to 2019, illustrated from numerous collections and more particularly that of the Cinémathèque française, showed the intense cinematographic activity of Nice and the fundamental role that the city played in the development of the 7th art, throughout the 20th century.
2017 « Nice in history » Masséna museum
Exhibition curator: Jean-Jacques Aillagon, assisted by Aymeric Jeudy
Scenography & Graphic design: Kristof Everart & Marcel Bataillard
This exhibition proposed to explore the moments when the local history of Nice was deeply connected with the world history. Thanks to a vast chronology going from the "invention of fire" on the site of Terra Amata 400,000 years ago to the "invention of tourism" in the mid-eighteenth century, passing through the Roman conquest, the "barbarian invasions" and the "Truce of Nice" in 1538, a time gallery offered visitors a surprising journey through the history of Nice and its territory.
2016-2017 « Your memories of la Prom' »
Nice World Heritage Nomination Centre, 75 quai des États-Unis
The people of Nice and visitors have opened their family albums, offering several hundred unpublished photographs.
More information about the exhibition
Download the brochure
Summer 2015 « Promenade(S) des Anglais »
In summer 2015, under curatorship of Jean-Jacques Aillagon, 10 municipal museums and 3 national museums of the City of Nice joined together to present a program with the common theme « The promenade(s) of Nice ». The exhibitions proposed a rich journey through the history of the Promenade itself, from the point of view of natural history, of artists like Chagall, Matisse and Dufy, or of the history of sport, music, cinema and archeology.
The exhibition "The Promenade, inventing a new city » presented at the Masséna museum focused on the urban history of the Promenade, symbol of the birth of a resort city. Thanks to different documents collected, the exhibition retraced its urban development, but also the social and artistic life of this mythical avenue, to make the visitors appreciate the outstanding universal value of the urban architectural heritage, the central theme of Nice’s application for the inscription on the World Heritage List.
Watch the video of the inauguration
Views of the exhibition « The Promenade, inventing a new city », City of Nice, Masséna museum, 2015 © Floriane Spinetta
2015 « The world heritage »
Nice World Heritage Nomination Centre, 75 quai des États-Unis.
For more information please visit website of World Heritage Centre.