Villa Alpina - Tende Town Hall

Built in 1884 on the initiative of Friedrich Mader, a Lutheran pastor living in Nice, Villa Alpina was initially conceived as an elegant summer residence for his family. Around 1905, the family moved permanently to Tende, and the villa took on a new dimension as a Protestant place of worship. During the First World War, the building was confiscated, the Mader family being of German origin. In 1927, the commune officially acquired the Villa Alpina to house its new town hall, as the former town hall in what is now Rue de France had become too cramped. On September 16, 1947, the Villa Alpina officially became a French town hall when Tende became part of France.