Monastère de Cimiez, Franciscan monastery in Cimiez district, Nice, France

The Monastery of Cimiez is a Franciscan monastery in the hilltop district of Nice with gardens containing Mediterranean plants, citrus trees, and a central well. The buildings themselves form the core of this complex set on elevated ground above the city.

A chapel dedicated to Notre-Dame de Cimiez, built by Benedictine monks of the abbey of Saint-Pons, is first mentioned in a charter of 30 December 1010. On 15 November 1546 the abbey ceded the chapel and surrounding land to the Observant Friars Minor, who had lost their convent in the siege of Nice of 1543. The Franciscans enlarged and transformed the buildings over the following centuries.

The church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption holds three paintings by the Niçois primitive Louis Bréa: a Pietà, a Crucifixion and a Déposition, spanning some forty years of his activity. The monastery also keeps a Franciscan museum tracing the order's life in Nice since the 13th century.

Access to the church and convent buildings is through the place du Monastère, which also leads to the adjoining cemetery. The cloister hosts classical concerts during the Nuits Musicales de Nice and, in fine summer weather, Sunday masses are held there. Roofs, cloister and facades were restored between January 2013 and 5 February 2014.

The adjacent cemetery holds the graves of notable artists like Henri Matisse and Raoul Dufy. This makes the grounds a destination for those wishing to pay respects at the final resting places of these creative figures.