The Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Nice (Cathédrale Orthodoxe Russe Saint-Nicolas de Nice) is a Russian Orthodox cathedral, and a national monument of France, located in the city of Nice. Opened in 1912, thanks to the generosity of Tsar Nicholas II, it is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral outside Russia. There is currently an ownership dispute over the property.
The parish, which belongs to an overseas Russian Orthodox jurisdiction under the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, opposes a claim on the property by the Patriarchate of Moscow, which has the backing of the Russian government(citation needed). The dispute seemingly stems from a conflict between old Russian nobility who have long since settled in Nice and newly arrived Russians. A subjective account of the dispute, favoring the current administration, can be read in the following text translated from the French, which formed the bulk of this entry prior to edit:
From a religious point of view, this claim is considered by the local noble Russian community as unlawful, since the cathedral belongs to the Orthodox Church of Constantinople and therefore has nothing to do with the Church of Moscow. They also underline that a religious matter should not be dealt with by the Russian state. What is more, this claim from Russian authorities is also linked to the arrival of newly emigrated wealthy Russians, who belong to the business Russian classes or even to the mafia. The old noble Russians who have lived in Nice for decades are unwilling to see they cathedral under the authority of a corrupt government and "invaded" by Russians whose wealth is openly known to be from illegal activities. They also noticed that the behavior of these newcomers is far from what it should be from truly religious people: indecent clothes in a very religious building, a clear tendency to show off how rich they are, a mere respct of religious dogma but no real Christian values underneath. There has also been a recent case of false accusation against the previous archbishop of the cathedral, led by newly come Russians."
Since the mid-19th century, Russian nobility visited Nice and the French Riviera, following the fashion established decades earlier by the English upper class and nobility. In 1864, immediately after the railway reached Nice, Tsar Alexander II visited by train and was attracted by the pleasant climate. Thus began an association between Russians and the French Riviera that continues to this day. The Cathedral was established to serve the large Russian community that had settled in Nice by the end of the 19th century, as well as devote visitors from the Imperial Court. Tsar Nicholas II funded the construction of the Cathedral, which was inaugurated in December 1912.
