The tower of Bellanda – a huge, pot-bellied – is perfectly visible from the waterfront, This Is Uni. Tourists it attracts primarily an observation deck at a height of 92 meters: one can see the whole Bay of Angels. Even more interesting is the history of the buildings – not warlike, but sad.

Tower from which to watch the sea, full of danger the attack on the town, stood here since the fifteenth century. At first it was called the Tour de Mol, in the XVII century was renamed the Tour St. Elmo (St. Elmo is the patron Saint of sailors). 29 March 1537 the tower showed the people a priceless relic – the shroud of Turin. In 1705, when Louis XIV took the city by assault, his troops before the Foundation of the demolished local strengthening. From the tower leaving only the Foundation. In 1824 the family Clerissi received permission to erect the building again, arranging it in a hotel.

In April 1831 in nice-old was Hector Berlioz. The young composer has changed the bride, in a rage, he sought to Paris to kill is wrong. However, nice has produced on him the impression that he changed his mind to kill and stayed, settling in the hotel Clarisse". In a letter to friends Berlioz described the "amazing room with sea view and a small open space in front of the tower, where he lay, looked at the sea and thought of fishing boats. For three weeks he wrote the Overture to "King Lear". Then Berlioz remembered that time as the happiest in my life.

Thirteen years later, the composer returned here. And again this was happiness: Berlioz wandered along the coast, opened a tiny Cove and swam. And again he wrote the Overture, which was initially named "the Tower of nice" (later renamed in "Le Corsaire"). The attraction of these places was so great that in 1868, after a difficult for Berlioz winter in St. Petersburg, he again went to the Cote d'azur to enjoy the peace and quiet, to bask in the sun. But this trip became fatal for him.

Down the steep cliffs in Monaco, Berlioz fell, terribly disfigured face and lost a lot of blood. To be treated, he went to nice. Barely settling into the hotel, went to his favorite terrace, but then again they fell face down on the stones (it is assumed that the composer had a stroke). After eight days of bed rest Berlioz was able to return to Paris, but could not recover and just over a year later, she died.

Its present name of the tower was given in the mid-nineteenth century by the will of another owner. Before the world was proposed to create a Museum of Berlioz, but the plan did not materialize. For forty years it served as a naval Museum. Now Tour Bellanda restored, climb on it, you can either walk the stairs or the Elevator. About the visit of Hector Berlioz in nice reminds commemorative plaque on the observation deck. There are powerful binoculars through which to consider the shining sea and sails. A century and a half ago on this horizon eyes looked Berlioz: the waves were coming in for the composer and their endless noise merged with the divine music, which transcends death.