Bellande Tower - huge, potbellied - perfectly visible from the waterfront, this Uni. The tourists it attracts primarily a viewing platform at a height of 92 meters: from here to view the entire Bay of Angels. More interesting story buildings - not militant, but sad.

The tower, which was observed overseas, concealing the danger of an attack on the town, here stood a XV century. At first it was called the Tour de Mole, in the XVII century was renamed the Tour Saint Elmo (St. Elmo - the patron saint of sailors). March 29, 1537 from the tower showed the people a priceless relic - the Turin Shroud. In 1705, when Louis XIV took the city by storm, his troops before the foundation was demolished local strengthening. From the tower there was only a foundation. In 1824, the family received permission to erect Klerisso building again, having arranged in it a hotel.

In April 1831 in Nice turned twenty-eight Hector Berlioz. The young composer changed the bride, in a rage, he sought to Paris - to kill infidels. But Nice has made him the impression that he changed his mind and was then killed, settling in the hotel "Klerisso." In a letter to a friend Berlioz described the "delightful room with a view of the sea" and "small open space in front of the tower," where he lay staring at the sea and saw the fishing boats. For three weeks he wrote here the overture to "King Lear." Then Berlioz recalled the time as the happiest in his life.

Thirteen years later the composer came back here. Again, it was happiness: Berlioz wandering along the coast, opened a tiny cove swimming. And again he wrote the overture, which initially even called "The Tower of Nice" (later renamed "Le Corsaire"). The attraction of these places was so great that in 1868, after a difficult winter for Berlioz in St Petersburg, he again went to the Cote d'Azur - enjoy peace and quiet, bask in the sun. But this trip was fatal for him.

Going down a steep cliff in Monaco, Berlioz fell terribly disfigured face and lost a lot of blood. Dermatologic he went to Nice. As soon as he settled in the hotel, he went to his beloved terrace, but then fell again in the face of stones (it is assumed that the composer suffered a stroke). After eight days of bed rest Berlioz was able to return to Paris, but was unable to recover and just over a year later, he died.

His current name of the tower was in the middle of the XIX century at the behest of another owner. Before World War II offered to create a museum of Berlioz, but the plan did not materialize. For over forty years, then it housed a naval museum. Now restored Tour Bellande, climb on it, you can either walk up the stairs or the elevator. About the visit of Hector Berlioz in Nice reminds memorial plaque on the observation deck. There's a high-powered binoculars, through which the well-regarded shining sea and sails. Half a century ago on the horizon looked eye Berlioz: the incoming wave, and the composer of the endless noise mingled with the divine music that knows no death.