The gardens of Villa Arson are open to the public every afternoon throughout the year, including outside exhibition periods.
Bosco Modern Garden
Designed by the architect Michel Marot, the Villa Arson’s modern garden consists of a central lawn punctuated by paved circular beds, each centred around a plant or, more often, a tree. Sourced from all five continents, the vegetation in this new garden reflects Villa Arson’s openness to the world through the diversity of its origins. Specially designed for the site, the paving stones take the form of interlocking trapezoids or triangles, motifs that can be found throughout the Villa Arson and its gardens.
The century-old olive trees, planted by Capuchin monks in the sixteenth century, are the last remaining traces of the estate’s agricultural past. To this day, they still bear the small Niçoise olives that are harvested in good years to produce the mild, fruity olive oil characteristic of the region.
Labyrinth Garden
In place of the former terraced gardens, hanging gardens were created on the rooftops of the new buildings. The landscape was extensively redesigned by the architect, who conceived a contemporary garden in which architecture and plant life are closely intertwined.
A labyrinth of stone and intertwined vegetation, the garden unfolds harmoniously around the former nineteenth-century residence of the Arson family. Interior streets, patios, open-air amphitheatres, terraces and hanging gardens interlock to form a unique landscape where architecture and nature are inseparably connected.
Site-Specific artWorks
The visitor’s journey through the site is punctuated by a series of site-specific artworks. Some are long-term deposits by artists, resulting in particular from invitations extended within the framework of the Sous le soleil exhibition series, while others stem from public commissions undertaken since 1988.
Practical Information
The gardens of Villa Arson are open to the public every afternoon from 2 pm to 6 pm, and until 7 pm in July and August.
Annual closures: 1 May; 24, 25, 26 and 31 December; and 1 and 2 January.
Admission is free and no reservation is required.
Address : 20 Avenue Stephen Liégeard, 06105 Nice Cedex 2
