Cimetière du Château, Cemetery in Nice, France

The Cimetière du Château is a burial ground on Castle Hill in Nice, France, built over the ruins of a 16th-century fortress. Its paths wind past old walls, terraced graves, and stone monuments that overlook the rooftops and the Mediterranean Sea below.

The burial ground opened in July 1783 after the ruler of Sardinia ordered that dead bodies no longer be placed inside churches. Before that, the hill had been a fortress defending Nice, but the stronghold was demolished in the early 1700s, leaving the walls and empty space that became this cemetery.

The cemetery holds 2,800 graves and mixes ordinary Old Nice families with the city's notables and foreigners from its many communities, as the tourist office notes. The name comes from the hill itself: the château that once stood here. A search tool on the city's mapping application helps visitors locate a relative's or a famous figure's grave.

Wear comfortable shoes because the ground is uneven and the site sits on a hill with several levels. Morning or late afternoon gives softer light and fewer visitors, making it easier to walk slowly among the graves.

The cemetery holds about 2,800 graves and was founded in 1783, when the ruler of Sardinia forbade burials inside churches. It stands on the site of Nice's old citadel, and sections of the 16th-century fortress walls still remain among the plots. The city offers an online map for locating a specific grave, including those of notable figures.