Villa Masséna, musée d'art et d'histoire

The Villa Masséna features a neoclassical facade with a prominent central balcony that overlooks the Promenade des Anglais. Prince Victor of Essling, the grandson of one of Napoleon's marshals, commissioned this residence in eighteen ninety-nine to host the lavish social life of the French Riviera. He later donated the property to the city of Nice on the condition that it become a museum. Inside, the original Empire-style furniture remains arranged exactly as it was when the family lived here in the early twentieth century.