Monument aux morts de Rauba-Capeù, War memorial at Quai Rauba-Capeù, Nice, France.
The Monument aux morts de Rauba-Capeù is cut into the pale cliff of the castle hill above the Route du bord de mer. A tall arched niche holds a cylindrical stone urn on a square base, bearing 3,665 nameplates of Niçois killed in the First World War. Stone masonry flanks the arch, and a two-metre sundial is inscribed in the base; with its surroundings the memorial reaches 32 metres.
Mayor François Goiran decided in 1919 to build a memorial to Nice's war dead. The project by Roger Séassal, winner of the 1913 Premier Grand Prix de Rome, was approved on 6 February 1923; the first stone was laid on 11 November 1924 and the work completed in 1927. Marshal Foch inaugurated it on 29 January 1928. It was listed as a monument historique in 2010 and classed in 2011.
The name Rauba-Capeù comes from the Niçois dialect for "hat-stealer", after the wind on this stretch of the Promenade des Anglais. The two high reliefs flanking the central inscription were carved by Alfred Janniot: war on the left, peace on the right. The central inscription reads: "The City of Nice to its sons, who died for France."
The memorial stands on the quay Rauba-Capeù along the Route du bord de mer, on the site of the old Ponchettes path linking the cours Saleya to the Lympia harbour. The esplanade is closed off by a chain barrier, and the monument is viewed from the pavement and the road edge. The cliff of the castle hill rises directly behind it.
In 2018, a metal eagle-shaped container holding memorial plaques was discovered inside the monument, located about 20 meters above ground. This hidden collection had remained unknown for decades, revealing how carefully names were preserved.
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