Catherine Ségurane, a woman from Nice who saved the city

The year is 1543... while Nice is besieged by the troops of Francis I and their Turkish allies led by Suleiman the Magnificent and Barbarossa, a woman named Catherine Ségurane repels their assault on August 15, 1543.

A single woman repelling an entire army? Indeed she seizes the Turkish flag by striking the flag bearer with her washing paddle. Nice is saved!

The strangest thing is that a chronicler who lived through the siege, Jean Badat, makes no mention whatsoever of Catherine's intervention. The figure, who may have existed but whose existence is not proven, only appears much later and very quickly takes on all the characteristics of the myth.

Since then, the character of Catherine Ségurane has inflamed imaginations: poems, paintings and drawings flourish on this theme, maintaining the myth and the spirit of resistance of the people of Nice.

Take advantage of your stroll through Old Nice to find one of the cannonballs from the siege of Nice; it is located on Rue Droite, very close to the Palais Lascaris, so be curious and look up!