The column marking where the people of Nice pulled a carriage

This white marble column stands in Nice as a memorial to the two brief visits of Pie VII in 1809 and 1814. It marks the exact spot where the people of Nice pulled his carriage by hand. In February 1814, as he traveled toward Rome after being liberated by Napoleon, the people of the city and the countryside knelt by the side of the road. When he arrived at the Croix de Marbre, 150 priests and all the inhabitants of the city marched ahead of him. The people unhitched the horses and pulled the carriage themselves to the church and then to the Préfecture.

Nice hosted Pie VII on two occasions. In August 1809, he arrived in the city after being taken from Rome by the troops of Napoleon I. He was recognized upon entering the region, and a large ceremony was organized in his honor. A huge crowd welcomed him, illuminating their houses as he passed. He stayed three days in the hotel of the Préfecture, where he appeared on the balcony to bless the crowd while fireworks were fired from the seashore. One record notes that the night before his departure, seventy-two fishing boats were lined up opposite the balcony, with more than 1,600 people waiting for his blessing.

By 1814, the reception was just as intense. Pie VII was so moved by the local welcome that he sent a portrait of himself to the mayor of Nice as a gesture of gratitude. The marble column was commissioned in 1815 to commemorate the moment he was carried in triumph. It was erected on September 4, 1823, on a square created in 1821-1822.

The column has two specific features. The arms represented on the croix are not the arms of dignity of Pie VII, but those of his family, the Chiaramonti. The croix also has two horizontal branches, similar to the croix de Lorraine. Latin inscriptions on the four sides of the base describe how the city was illuminated at night and how the clergy and people were exultant and joyful as he entered the city.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons