Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi, Bronze memorial statue in Place Garibaldi, Nice, France.
Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi is a bronze statue on Place Garibaldi in Nice, created by sculptor Antoine Étex. The figure depicts the Italian general in military attire and dominates the central plaza with its commanding stance.
On 4 June 1882, the day Nice learned of Giuseppe Garibaldi's death, the municipal council voted to erect a monument to its native son. A public subscription fell short, the site on Place Garibaldi was fixed only in 1885, and Antoine Étex died in 1888 after making the sketch. Gustave Deloye completed the work, quadrupling the pedestal and adding two bronze lions; it was inaugurated on 4 October 1891 and inscribed as a monument historique on 23 July 2009.
The bronze group beneath the statue shows France, wearing a Phrygian cap with a flagstaff topped by a rooster, and Italy, whose flagstaff carries a Roman she-wolf, watching over the cradle of Garibaldi as a child. The pedestal reads "À Garibaldi / sa ville natale". Until the 1970s the Società dei Garibaldini di Nizza laid a wreath here every 2 June, the anniversary of his death.
The statue stands on a central plaza that connects the old town with the harbor area and is easily accessible on foot. The square is open to the public and offers good viewing angles from multiple sides.
The monument was moved about 18 metres towards the Chapelle du Saint-Sépulcre in 2007 during construction of tram line 1, and its surrounding basin was reduced to a square 17 metres on each side. The rear of the pedestal carries a bronze relief titled "Nice au milieu des nations".
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