Lomography

Massena
written by vicuna on April 27th, 2008 (2 votes)

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The area of Massena is the main center of new Nice. The new parts of the city, which developed in the beginning of the 20th century started from there, just next to the old historical city, both were separated only by the river called Paillon.

When the city began to grow, the Pont Neuf (new bridge) was built over the river and people decided to build something on the other side of the river as well. The area of Massena was born! In the 1920’s, the river was totally covered, making the area much bigger, with a casino, a lot of cafe’s and restaurants and the tramway coming through the area. It was the prestigious pedestrian area of the city at that time! But during the 50’s, all was transformed – the tramway was replaced by the bus, and the place opened to the cars and the whole traffic of the city came through the place, loosing all its charm…. I always knew the area of Massena as a very unattractive place, a lot of cars, traffic noise and avoided it for the well known traffic jams… But today, a new tramway construction transformed the city, and it was decided to give the place again all the prestige from former times, a real pedestrian zone, cars were banned, finally!! The new place was inaugurated this summer, and it was a great pleasure to discover the work of the urban designers and architects who wanted to give this place a real identity, place to stay and to meet people, and what a great place for pictures!!! I love it now! :)

http://www.nicerendezvous.com/FR/LA-PLACE-MASSENA-NICE-RIVIERA-CÔTE-D-
AZUR-INAUGUREE-LE-16-JUIN-n-2873.html
http://www.nice.fr/mairie_nice_15464.html
http://www.nissalabella.net/plmas.htm