Place Masséna

Place Masséna is defined by its dramatic, black and white checkered pavement and the surrounding neoclassical buildings with their deep red ochre facades. Built between eighteen thirty-two and eighteen fifty, the square was designed to cover the Paillon River, which once separated the old town from the city’s newer sections. The project, overseen by the architect Joseph Vernier, created a unified space that bridged these two parts of Nice, replacing an older bridge and two smaller, disconnected squares.