 The was consecrated on December 31, 1859 in the city of Nice who at that time had more than 45 000 inhabitants and was part with its County of the Kingdom of Sardinia, belonging to the House of Savoy, before being annexed to the French Empire by plebiscite a few months later in April 1860.In December 1912, half a century later, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral would be consecrated in memory of Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, who died in Nice.The building itself and the parcel of land on which it stands has been the property of the Russian state to this day.