Cimetiere du Chateau (Chateau Cemetery), Nice

Being a cemetery does not make it a less interesting place to visit. Chateau Cemetery sits on top of the hill at Cimiez, and has one of the most beautiful views of the city. So, visiting the cemetery is certainly not very depressing.

The cemetery was founded in 1783. Most of the graves are very ornate and there are many small chapel style gravesites made in white marble. The works of art kind of reflect the love of art that the locals have for all aspects of life. Here art is life.

Most people visit this place, though, for two famous people who are buried here. It is the final resting place of Raoul Dufy, the famous French Fauvist painter. This is also the burial spot for the internationally renowned French painter Henri Matisse, whose works are adored by millions of art lovers worldwide. You will have to look a bit for the burying site of Dufy, as it is a very simple plot to say the least. It located near the Monastery garden gate. Matisse’s grave, on the other hand, is easier to spot.

The Chateau Cemetery used to also be the citadel for the city in the 16th Century. There are, in toto, more than 2800 people buried here. Besides the two people already mentioned, you can find the final resting places of other famous people like Gaston Leroux, a French journalist and author of detective fiction, and Emil Jellinek-Mercedes, an entrepreneur and industrialist who commissioned the first modern automobile, the Mercedes 35 HP.