About this place
Place Garibaldi is the oldest planned square in Nice, laid out in the 1780s under Victor Amedee the Third, King of Sardinia, as a grand gateway for travelers arriving on the royal road from Turin. Its tall facades are painted in warm ochre and gold and decorated with trompe l'oeil detail, a theatrical echo of the time when Nice belonged to the Italian House of Savoy rather than to France. At its center stands a statue, unveiled in 1891, of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the hero of Italian unification who was born in Nice in 1807. In a cruel irony, the very year Garibaldi helped forge a united Italy, 1860, was also the year his home city was handed over to France.
Key facts
- 1807 year — Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in Nice, the hero this square is named for
- 1891 year — Antoine Etex's marble statue of Garibaldi was raised at the center of the square
- 1000 volunteers — Garibaldi led the red-shirted Expedition of the Thousand in 1860 to help unify Italy
📍 Place Garibaldi 8, 06300, Nice