The Villa Masséna is a 19th-century Italianate palace on the Promenade des Anglais that houses a museum of Nice's history from the Napoleonic era to the Belle Époque. The building was constructed for Prince Victor d'Essling, grandson of one of Napoleon's marshals, and donated to the city in 1919 on the condition that it be opened as a museum rather than converted or demolished.
The permanent collection covers Nice's transformation from an independent county to a French city, its role in the Belle Époque tourist trade, and its connections to Garibaldi and the Risorgimento. The building itself — with its painted ceilings, ornate plasterwork, and ground-floor loggia opening onto the garden — is the real draw. The garden on the Promenade side is free to enter and makes a pleasant quiet spot away from the seafront noise.