St. Francis Square in the old town is small, but this place has always played an important role in the history of Nice. Now dancing Saint-Francois is on the verge of big changes.

In the middle of the XIII century, there appeared a Franciscan monastery. It was a time when the city, which existed on the hill under the protection of the castle began to descend - to the place where before there were only gardens, chapels and windmills. Two religious orders came to the city at the same time - the Franciscans and Dominicans. Dominican Order built a monastery south - in its place is now in the area of ​​the Palace of Justice, and the Franciscans settled in the north of present-day Old Nice. The church, cloister indispensable (indoor cloister with arcades on the perimeter), the garden and the cemetery became the center of the quarter for a long time.

In the XVI century the city finally came downstairs, needed a new town hall (remains of the castle hill, which caused inconvenience). The City Council chose a place near the Franciscan monastery, and in 1580 was built a simple, unadorned building. However, in the XVII and XVIII centuries, it began to decorate and rebuild. Doors and stairs made by architect Marc-Antoine Griego, and worked on the facade Ignazio di Agliaudi Tavigliano. The structure still looks quite modest for the town hall, but some interesting details - for example, the grotesque faces on the facades of the side windows of the second floor: one laughs, the other smirking.

In 1792, the troops of the First French Republic, occupied Nice, greatly damaged the palace, and the Franciscan friars sent. The monastery to this day has not been preserved. From former greatness were dilapidated town hall (now here the labor exchange), the arcade, bell tower of the abbey church (yellow with blue clock tower is visible from afar, get close to it, you can stay in the street). And, of course, on the last name of the square reminds.

Locals love dancing Saint-François, and often it is visited - it is a fish market. Every day except Monday, here in the early morning sell fresh fish. Counters are located around the fountain depicting dolphins with their tails intertwined. In dolphins, cars and in general on all sitting around a lot of gulls, noisy waiting for handouts from the sellers.

But with the aesthetic point of view it is a lively and cheerful place, of course, losing the rest of the old town. That is why the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi has decided to give the area a second wind. Work begins on restoration of the cloister and the church, the restoration of the palace Ratushny (it is scheduled to open in the city museum of memory). The whole space will lay stone slabs, as is already done with Massena and Garibaldi, organize an exhibition hall and entertainment center for the elderly. It is expected that the work will end in 2015.

Local residents are worried about the main issue, but they have calmed - Updated fish market and a fountain with dolphins remain in place.