Malonat Festival

Saturday program:
Coming

Every year since 1854, the City of Nice, celebrates the Feast of Notre Dame du Malonat.

Did you know?

The cholera epidemic and the vow of 1854

The origin of this religious tradition came from the Sardinian era, when the cholera appeared in Nice in July 1854.

In view of the magnitude of the scourge, the inhabitants of the Malonat district stood under the protection of the Virgin Mary by official prayers of thanksgiving on 2 August 1854, as evidenced by the engraved inscription on the base of the statue.

A public subscription was launched by the women in the neighbourhood, known as Prieuresses, to finance the construction of an oratory thanks to the end of the epidemic.

L’Oratoire de la rue du Malonat

Located at the top of Malonat Street (the paved road), the little sanctuary was inaugurated on September 8, 1854, for the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin.

A traditional holiday

Since 1854, this religious and popular holiday has not been interrupted. During the epidemic of the Coronavirus Covid-19 in 2020, the Prieuress maintained their promise: a Mass was celebrated in the Chapel of the Holy Cross, by the Dominican Brother J-M. Zanga, Chapelain of the White Pénitents.

On Saturday evening, a torch procession brought the statue of the Virgin of the rue du Malonat to the Church of the Gésu.

The next day, the procession renewed the statue until its oratory was restored in 1966. The restoration of the Virgin, in 1993 by the fresquist Guy Ceppa and in 2006 by Saviour Farruggello, as well as the inauguration of the new banner in 2001 testify to the vivacity of this tradition on which the Prieuress of Malonat jealously watch, which bloom the Oratory and decorate the street every last Sunday of July.