NIZZA, DIOCESE of – City and diocese, capital of the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France.
The diocese extends throughout the civil department of Alpes Maritimes. It has 525,000 inhabitants, of whom 350,000 are Catholics, distributed among 240 parishes served by 330 diocesan priests and 90 religious priests; it has one seminary, 19 male and 123 female religious communities (Ann. Pont., 1951, p. 290).
It is the ancient Nitria, of pre-Roman origin; the hill overlooking the Baie des Anges was occupied by Greek colonists from Marseille, and the port underwent commercial development. The magistrates of Marseille were represented at N. by an official called episcopus (CIL, V, 7914); but N. was known only as a port. At the same time Cemeleum developed, a town of the Vediantian Ligurians, in which the Romans replaced the indigenous inhabitants. Thus Cemenelum flourished from Augustus to Diocletian, who transferred the capital to Ebrodunum (CIL, V, p. 903). Cemenelum was destroyed by the Saxons in 573 (St Gregory of Tours, in Hist. Franc., IV, 42). It had an amphitheatre and baths (G. De Angelis d'Ossat, Un disegno di S. Gallo relativo alle terme di Cimella presso N., in Riv. di studi liguri, I [1942], pp. 20-24). Excavations were carried out in 1791, in 1860-80, and in 1943. Cemenelum disappeared in the 12th century.
The first known bishop is Amantius, present at the Council of Aquileia in 581. Pope Leo I, after 450, united the two sees of Cimiez and N. Shortly after the Roman Council of 19 November 462, Pope Hilary separated them again, but soon restored their union in 465; in fact, Bishop Magnus at the Council of Orléans in 549 signed as episcopus Cemeleensis et Nicaensis, and at the Synod of Arles in 554 as episcopus Cemeleensis, because N. was still considered, as in Hilary’s time, a castellum, whereas Cimiez was a civitas. Only after the Lombards destroyed Cimiez did N. become the seat of the civitas and of the diocese. Other known bishops were Ostadius, mentioned by Gregory of Tours around the year 581 (Hist. Franc., VI, 6); Catullinus, around the year 585; and Abraham, present at the Council of Paris in 614. N. was ceded by Victor Emmanuel II to France on 24 March 1860. The bishop of N. bears the title of Count of Drap. Within its territory are the suppressed dioceses of Antibes, Cimiez, Grasse, Sospel, and Vence. The diocese is suffragan to Aix.
The ancient Cathedral was dedicated to St Mary of the Assumption; but, having been damaged by the war, it was transferred in the 17th century to the church of St Reparata. Pius XII (1949) restored the ancient Marian title to the Cathedral, establishing that the sacred building be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary assumed into heaven and to St Reparata, virgin and martyr, and elevating it to the dignity of a minor basilica (AAS, 33 [1950], pp. 545-47). Other churches are: the church of St-Jaume, the parish church of the Italians, dating from the end of the 17th century; Notre-Dame, in Gothic style (1880-
Among the museums may be mentioned: the Museum of Ancient and Modern Art, or Musée Jules Cherer, established in 1927 in the former Thomson villa; and the Massena Museum, or Musée du Vieux Nice, in the Rivoli Palace, dating from the end of the 19th century.
For Cimeleum, the first known bishop is Valerian, present at the Councils of Riez (439) and Vaison (442). The Christian community is attested by two inscriptions found there (CIL, V, 7977-78). The abbey, founded at the end of the 8th century, was annexed to the church, later to become the cathedral, near which a treasure of coins ranging from the Merovingians to the Carolingians was found. At Grasse, the ancient Cathedral (Notre-Dame) dates from the end of the 12th century and marks the beginning of Gothic architecture in Provence. It is built of limestone, with three naves and no transept, and shows Lombard influences. At Sospel, only the Romanesque-Lombard bell tower of the ancient Cathedral of St Michael has been preserved. Vence, a diocese suppressed in 1790, had among its bishops St Veranus (d. 492), St Lambert (d. 1154), Alessandro Farnese, later Paul III, Msgr Godeaux, and Msgr Gurian. The ancient Cathedral dates from the 12th century, while the tribune and the minor naves date from the 17th century. The tombs of the holy bishops Veranus (in a 5th-century sarcophagus) and Lambert are preserved there.
After the Treaty of Peace with Italy, the populations of Tenda, Briga, S. Dalmazzo, Pieno, and Molières were separated from the dioceses of Ventimiglia and Cuneo and annexed to that of N.