ornamental chimneys, of which Fig. 57 is a specimen. That over the
entrance gateway contained the apparatus for working the portcullis.
These chambers have been used as political prisons at various times; and
the unfortunate occupants have relieved their weary hours by carving all
kinds of memoranda on the walls and floor, amongst which religious
symbols and pictures mingle with armorial bearings, initials, and scraps
of verse. These carvings are often well executed, and they form a very
interesting, although melancholy exhibition.
[Illustration: FIG. 59. GUARD-ROOM ON WALL, ST ANDRÉ.]
Some remains of the outer barbican which protected the approach to the
gateway may still be observed.
The walls of enceinte of St André present some interesting and
picturesque details. The great round tower at the south-west angle (Fig.
57) and the plain curtains adjoining it are very characteristic of the
period, and have more of a Northern than a Southern aspect.
[Illustration: FIG. 60. REMAINS OF A GUARD-ROOM ON WALL, ST ANDRÉ.]
The interior of the walls, with their parapets and parapet walks, are in
good preservation, and form fine illustrations of these features. In the
long stretch of the north wall, in which there are no towers to protect
the parapet walks or to contain guard-rooms or posts for reliefs of
sentries, small chambers were formed at intervals for that purpose on
the top of the wall (Figs. 59, 60). These now present a very quaint
appearance, and are suggestive of many a cold and weary watch. They were
only large enough to hold half-a-dozen men, but they constituted points
which guarded the circulation on the “chemins de rondes.” They were
provided with a fireplace and loops to the exterior, and had little
spy-holes looking along the parapet walks. The latter are widened
towards the interior of the walls with corbelling, and follow the slope
of the ground, with steps at intervals.
[Illustration: FIG. 61. CHURCH OF VILLENEUVE-LEZ-AVIGNON.]
There are several interesting architectural relics in the town of
VILLENEUVE. The church, a Gothic edifice of the fourteenth century, is
designed on the Southern plan of a wide hall, but is executed with
Gothic details, and pointed vaulting. The tower at the east end (Fig.
61) is a good specimen of the massive fortified type of church towers so
common in the South.
From the ramparts of the castle the ruins of the “CHARTREUSE DU VAL DE
BÉNÉDICTION” are seen in the valley beneath. This monastery was founded
in 1356 by Pope Innocent VI., who was buried there, and over whose grave
a splendid monument in the style of the Northern Gothic was erected.
After being sadly neglected and abused for many years, it has now been
removed to the chapel of the hospital.
The CHURCHES OF AVIGNON are mostly on the Southern plan of a single wide
nave with internal buttresses containing chapels between them, while the
ornamental features are almost all derived from Northern Gothic. They
are all of the fourteenth century, and that of St Pierre has an
elaborate Gothic front in the flamboyant style practised in the North in
the sixteenth century.
The “beffroi” of the ancient Hôtel-de-Ville, the emblem of the city’s
independence, built in 1354, still exists, but is so surrounded with
buildings as not to be properly visible.
In the vicinity of Avignon, or at least more easily got at from there
than any other comfortable resting-place, are many most interesting
examples of early Provençal architecture. In the immediate neighbourhood
are the ruins of the ABBEY OF ST RUF--situated about one mile to the
southward. The church has a good apse, and is partly fortified. Two
miles to the north-east of the town are found the remains of the PRIORY
OF ST VÉRAN, founded 1140, and still containing some traces of early
paintings. Both are figured by Révoil.
At a greater distance from Avignon many more very primitive and
picturesque illustrations of early Provençal architecture are to be met
with. Of these several may be visited together as they lie in the same
easterly direction, such as Carpentras, Pernes, and Le Thor.
VAISON is also a place of considerable architectural interest, but it is
somewhat remote from Avignon, and may be best reached from Orange. In
the days of the Empire the town of Vaison, which was of great antiquity,
stood on the plain of the river Ouvèze, where the soil still abounds in
relics of Roman sculpture, tiles, mosaics, hypocausts, and other works.
Some good statues have also been found and conveyed to the museum at
Avignon. The cathedral was originally founded at an early period in the
same low situation, but the town being exposed to frequent assaults, the
inhabitants found it necessary in the twelfth century to remove their
houses to a securer site on the hill above. The two divisions of the
town are united by a Roman bridge of one span of over sixty feet, which
is built, with the usual solidity, across the Ouvèze.
Connected with the old town are two very ancient churches, St Quinin,
and the cathedral, which have survived the many attacks of the
Barbarians, and the final demolition of the town by the Count of
Toulouse in the twelfth century. These churches are illustrated by
Révoil, and shew in all their details a close adherence to Roman design.
St Quinin is so very Roman in many of its features that it has been
frequently supposed to belong to the sixth century, but from the
ascertained dates of many parallel instances it is now regarded as a
remarkable example of the mode in which the builders of the eleventh
century copied the ornament of the Roman works they saw around them,
while they at the same time added features of their own invention. Thus
the caps are mainly Corinthian in design, but have some figures mixed
with the acanthus leaves, in the manner of the Romance “storied”
carvings, the foliage being well executed after an existing pattern, and
the figures rudely cut according to the original design of the period.
The plan of St Quinin is very remarkable, the apse being triangular
externally, and semi-circular, or rather triapsal, internally. The
vaults are of the usual pointed wagon form.
The cathedral is a church with central nave and side aisles, terminated
with three apses. The central one is semi-circular in the interior, but
is enclosed in a square envelope on the exterior. The latter is an
addition made at a period subsequent to the original construction, and
may have been in connection with defence; an arrangement of which we
shall find similar examples at Fréjus and elsewhere. The central nave is
roofed with a pointed wagon vault, and the side aisles with truncated
wagon vaults, having a long curve towards the outer wall, and a short
one towards the nave, and thus acting as flying buttresses against the
latter. The cloister and tower, or campanile, are noteworthy; and a very
rare feature is here found in the original bishop’s throne, which is
preserved in the centre of the apse, as at Torcello and other primitive
churches. From historical data, it seems most probable that this
cathedral existed in its present state before the destruction of the
town in 1160; and as the square envelope of the apse and the vaulting
are probably a restoration of a still earlier structure, it seems likely
that the oldest portions belong to the previous century.
After the destruction of the Gallo-Roman town, the bishop built himself
a castle on the summit of the hill on which the new town was erected.
The chapel of the castle served as his cathedral till the fifteenth
century, when the existing church of the new town was constructed in
lieu of the chapel, which was found too small for the growing
population.
The excursion to CARPENTRAS may be made by rail, and from that point the
ancient architectural remains at Pernes and Venasque may be easily
reached. At Carpentras, besides the Roman arch already described, the
church of St Siffrein and the Gothic gateways of the town are well worth
visiting.
VENASQUE contains a very ancient baptistery covered with a dome, and
ornamented with marble columns and classic capitals. The whole structure
is believed to belong to the Roman period.
At PERNES there is a church partly Romanesque and partly Gothic, with a
cupola over the choir supported on pendentives, and a crypt of the
eleventh century.
LE THOR, a small village about 12 miles east from Avignon on the road to
Aix, contains, in the church of Ste-Marie-au-lac, a most interesting
example of the mixture of Roman and Romanesque features in Provençal
architecture. The nave consists of a single hall roofed with a tunnel
vault, strengthened with transverse ribs, except the bay next the apse,
which is covered with an octagonal dome, formerly surmounted by a
belfry. The west façade and porch are very fine, and bear a striking
resemblance in style to Notre Dame des Doms and St Gabriel.
CAVAILLON, besides its Roman remains, contains an interesting early
church. It consists of a single nave finished with an apse, which is
semi-circular within and hexagonal externally.
The original side aisles have been converted into chapels, and the
pointed tunnel vault is carried on great piers, with twisted or fluted
shafts in the angles towards the top (as at Aix and Arles).
Amidst the marshes, about half way between Cavaillon and St Remy, is
found the small church of Molléges, formerly the chapel of a Cistertian
monastery. The belfry of this church (Fig. 62) is cited by
Viollet-le-Duc as a striking example of the influence of Roman
monuments, such as that at St Remy, on the design of some of the
Provençal steeples. It is certainly remarkable that this telling
illustration should occur so near the original (see p. 49).
In approaching TARASCON, we again observe the opposite banks of the
Rhone occupied by two castles representing the dominating powers on
either side. The massive rock on the right bank, crowned with high
crenellated walls and lofty keep, is the royal castle of Beaucaire; and
the lower but more solid looking pile close to the left bank of the
Rhone is the castle said to have been finished and occupied by King René
of Provence.
[Illustration: 62. LE CLOCHER DE MOLLÉGES.
from Viollet-le-Duc’s _Dictionnaire_.)]
The history of Tarascon is similar to that of the other towns on the
Rhone. Originally a market, established by the Greek colonists of
Marseilles, it was converted into a Roman settlement, and retained some
of its municipal institutions and liberties under the suzerainty of the
Counts of Provence, till they were gradually lost under the feudal
system. The church of St Martha, originally built in the twelfth
century, on the ruins of a Roman temple, was
[Illustration: FIG. 63. STE MARTHE, TARASCON.]
reconstructed in the fourteenth century, and is of the usual Southern
plan with Gothic details.
The south porch of the twelfth century church however still exists, and
is a very beautiful example of the Provençal style (Fig. 63). In general
character it corresponds with the finer instances we shall meet with at
Arles and St Gilles, although on a reduced scale. The round and
octagonal nook shafts have caps partly copied from the Corinthian, and
partly carved with Romanesque figures. The numerous fine mouldings of
the arch contain a curious mixture of Roman and Mediæval ornaments, in
the classic egg combined with the Gothic dog-tooth enrichments. The
small arcade above, with alternate fluted pilasters and round shafts,
all finished with enriched caps resting on a cornice supported on carved
heads, have an advanced Romanesque character.
This church is dedicated to Martha, the sister of Mary, who along with
Lazarus and other primitive saints, are traditionally supposed to have
converted the south of Gaul to Christianity. Martha is said to have
endeared herself to the people of Tarascon, by delivering the town from
the power of a hideous dragon, which feat is celebrated annually by an
extraordinary procession, in which the _Tarasque_ (a pantomimic dragon)
makes a great figure, followed by representatives of all the members of
the holy family, and attended by multitudes of people.
The Castle of Tarascon (Fig. 64) stands on a rock which rises but little
above the level of the river. Begun by Louis II. of Provence in the
fourteenth century, it was finished by King René in the fifteenth. It is
now a prison, so that the interior is not easily accessible.
There is here a curious mixture of the Southern square tower with the
Northern round form, while the smaller details are all of the Northern
Gothic style. The general
[Illustration: FIG. 64. CASTLE OF TARASCON.]
effect is fine, although somewhat heavy, and the details of the entrance
gateway, with its separate drawbridges for carriages and foot
passengers, and its ornamental parapet and corbels are particularly
noteworthy.
[Illustration: FIG. 65. HOUSE IN TARASCON.]
Tarascon has some good bits of architecture in its narrow but somewhat
picturesque streets,--the winding stair and projecting turret being very
effectively treated in one instance (Fig. 65). The gateway of the town
(Fig. 66) on the east is also simple but good, and quite Northern in
style, having two round towers flanking the entrance archway.
BEAUCAIRE.--Crossing the bridge of boats from the castle of King René,
the bare limestone rock surmounted by the Castle of Beaucaire meets the
view (Fig. 68). This castle was anciently a possession of the Counts of
Toulouse. During the Albigensian crusade it was besieged by Simon de
Montfort, and an interesting account of the siege operations _by
himself_ still exists. While engaged in the siege he was attacked and
defeated by Raymond VII. (1216). Although now a complete ruin
internally, the walls exist all round and shew the great extent of the
fortress (Fig. 67). The outer enceinte, and its long approach by wide
flights of stairs from the west, can still be traced, as also the
outline of the outer and inner bailey. The gateway of the latter, in a
fragmentary state, still survives. The immense strength of the fortalice
is distinctly apparent, owing to the height and steepness of the naked
rock on which it stands (Fig. 69).
[Illustration: FIG. 66. GATE OF TARASCON.]
Almost the only defensive building in fair preservation
[Illustration: FIG. 67. PLAN OF THE CASTLE OF BEAUCAIRE.]
is the remarkable donjon which rises high above the walls. This tower
(Fig. 70) is of the very unusual form of a triangle in plan; that shape
having probably been adopted in order to fit a projecting spur of the
rock. The basement floor (not accessible) was doubtless entered from a
trap door in the floor above. It has no openings to the outside. The
stair
[Illustration: FIG. 68. CASTLE OF BEAUCAIRE FROM S.-E.]
[Illustration: FIG. 69. CASTLE OF BEAUCAIRE FROM N.-E.]
to the first floor is straight and is carried up in the thickness of the
wall. The first floor forms a triangular hall with groined vault of
peculiar form, has a fireplace in one angle, and is lighted with small
loops. From this floor the staircase is carried up as a wheel in the
south angle of the walls. The top floor has a segmental vault which
carries the flat stone roof. This is formed of stone flags all
overlapped and laid in regular courses, each slightly higher than the
others as they rise towards the centre.
[Illustration: FIG. 70. PLANS OF THE KEEP.]
The staircase turret stands independently upon this platform, and has a
sloping stone roof. The parapet is very perfect, and is, as usual,
projected on bold corbels (Fig. 71). Owing to the sharp angles of the
plan, the inclination of the corbels near the angles towards one another
(in order to keep the arches over them as equal as possible) is much
greater than usual--more marked than that, for instance, of the corbels
at Avignon (above
[Illustration: FIG. 71. CASTLE OF BEAUCAIRE. (_Interior of
Courtyard._)]
referred to, p. 150). The corbels at the angles which are right angles
have the usual additional courses in the height. A bold ovolo moulding
runs round beneath the corbel-course, the object of which is to keep the
inner face of the machicolation well clear of the front of the wall, so
that stone balls or other missiles thrown down would run no risk of
being diverted from their course by striking any of the projections of
the rough-faced masonry with which the tower is built. The parapet is
provided with large embrasures, and the merlons or spaces between are
pierced with loops of the crossed shape adopted in the fourteenth
century.
The parapet wall partly carried on corbels is seen winding round the
summit of the wall of enceinte (_see_ Fig. 71), with steps where the
heights vary; and in the south-east angle of the inner courtyard
adjoining the ruined gateway from the outer to the inner courtyard,
there still stands the very interesting twelfth century chapel of the
castle.
This oratory is generally similar in design to the one within the castle
at Villeneuve (_ante_, Fig. 52). The doorway at the west end is
round-arched, and contains details which are remarkably characteristic
of Provence, the purely Roman egg and leaf enrichments being mixed with
dogtooth and other ornaments of Romanesque design. The small square
tower which crowns the west gable is peculiar, being more in the style
of the belfries further North and East, than those of the South.
From Tarascon a branch railway runs to St Remy (the Roman ruins at which
have already been described), and from that point the strange old town
of Les Baux may be reached.
LES BAUX.--This ancient but decayed fortress is one of the most
picturesque and remarkable objects in the district. It is situated on
the top of a rocky height (Fig. 72), not far from where the Alpines
begin to rise from the plain of the Rhone, over which it has a
commanding and extensive prospect. Formerly a considerable fortified
town, it is now deserted, save by a few wanderers and beggars, and
presents the melancholy appearance of an abandoned city, of which the
empty houses are fast falling into ruin. This, however, as we shall
hereafter notice, is by no means a solitary example of a Southern town
overtaken by a similar fate. But Les Baux has this striking peculiarity
to distinguish it, that it is a city _not built_, but excavated out of
the rock. It is not uncommon to find houses cut in the rock in several
parts of France, where a dry and soft formation renders such an
operation suitable, and, as is well known, rock-hewn temples, tombs, and
other buildings abound in Egypt, Syria, and the East. Possibly some of
the great chiefs of the family of Les Baux (who were distinguished
Crusaders) may have adopted the idea from examples they saw in the Holy
Land.
[Illustration: FIG. 72. FORTRESS OF LES BAUX.]
The town is now almost a heap of ruins, although some façades of good
Renaissance design still adorn the silent streets.
The castle, which covered a large part of the site, had walls composed
of solid rock, the superfluous material being cut away both on the
inside and outside. In some cases the rock, which is a soft limestone,
and decays by exposure, has given way quicker on one side than another,
with the result that large masses of “wall” have fallen either flat on
the ground, or in solid blocks down the cliffs. In other instances
towers have toppled against towers, like trees cut at the foot,
producing a most confused and overturned appearance, as if the result of
siege or earthquake.
With respect to the architecture, says Mérimée, “The exceptional
situation of the town of Les Baux has given rise to a style which
scarcely furnishes any indications of the ancient epochs of its history;
however, I have seen nothing which appeared to be older than the twelfth
century. A church in fair condition seems to be of the epoch of
transition. In the right aisle are seen a cornice and transverse arch
enriched with dog-tooth and zig-zag ornaments. The rest of the church
has been repaired in the fifteenth century, and several very elegant
chapels have been added to it.” This church is illustrated by Révoil.
On the south side of the town a bas-relief of three large figures and
part of a Latin inscription, carved to a great scale on the face of the
rock, have given rise to some extraordinary theories. The figures are
called Les Trois Maries or Tremaié. Many observers regard them as Roman,
and suppose that they represent Marius (the conqueror of this district,
about 100 B.C.), his wife Julia, and a Syrian prophetess or sorceress
called Martha, who accompanied the great leader and foretold his
victories. But M. Lenthéric, in his interesting work on the _Villes
Mortes de la Méditerranée_, already referred to, takes an entirely
different view. He contends that these figures represent Lazarus and the
two Marys; and considers the existence of the church dedicated to the
“Saintes Maries” (which we shall reach by and bye), together with the
above figures and inscription, and the traditions of the country,
sufficient proof that the family of Lazarus and their companions were
really the first missionaries of Christianity in Southern Gaul.
There is another large inscription and two more figures on another rock,
but they are too much decayed to be accurately interpreted.
There seems to be no doubt that a town has existed here from the time of
the Romans, although no Roman architecture can now be detected. In
mediæval times it was the home of the famous family of Les Baux, whose
history (written by Jules Canonge) comprises much of that of Provence
from the tenth to the fifteenth century.
In the tenth century Les Baux was already one of the largest towns of
the country, and was for long the seat of a famous Court of Love. In the
thirteenth century the “Seigneurs des Baux” possessed seventy-nine free
burghs. They were amongst the most powerful and boldest barons of the
land, and acquired great titles and possessions, being in turn the
Princes of Orange, the Counts of Provence, Kings of Arles and Vienne,
and Emperors of Constantinople. They commanded fleets and armies, and
became podestàs of the free towns. They also distinguished themselves as
Crusaders, and joined Charles of Anjou in his conquest of Naples. In
following the history of this distinguished race one gets a more lively
and impressive idea of the life and manners of those stirring mediæval
times in Provence than can easily be found elsewhere.
But the family lost their prestige when Barral des Baux, podestà of the
free town of Arles, betrayed the republic to Charles of Anjou. Les Baux
from this time declined, and the castle was finally dismantled by the
Duke of Guise; the town was abandoned and the fine mansions fell into
decay, a process which is still in progress, both by the action of
nature and at the hands of the peasantry of the neighbourhood. Les Baux
may be got at either from Fontvieille (famous for its quarries of “Arles
stone”), to which there is a railway from Arles, or from Tarascon, in
either case driving to Paradou (six kilometres from Fontvieille, and
sixteen from Tarascon), or from St Remy.
[Illustration: FIG. 73. CHURCH OF ST GABRIEL. _West Front._ (From
_Révoil._)]