During the first half of the 16th century, a series of acts gradually effected the transfer of the seat of the bishops of Nice from Cimiez Cathedral, which sits on the hill of the castle overlooking the city, to the church of St Reparata in 1590.

After an official ceremony presided over by the bishop Luigi Pallavicini, and in the presence of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, the church was recognized as a chiesa-cattedrale.

[5] In 1649, judging the building to be too small, Bishop Didier Palletis commissioned the architect Jean-André Guibert to produce a structure more in keeping with the importance of the city.

[1] The year 1900 marked the most recent addition to the cathedral, with the construction of new side chapels that replaced the former heavy baroque ornamentation.

The high altar is surmounted by a picture of the Glory of Saint Reparata, the virgin martyr to whom the cathedral is dedicated and whose relics have been enshrined here since 1690.

The cathedral contains three organs: one is on a tribune above the narthex, another is in the north arm of the transept, and the third is in the choir rehearsal room.