up, and a large quantity of portions of columns and architraves built
into the modern walls, shew that the Roman works here were at one time
considerable.
[Illustration: FIG. 136. THE “PANTHEON,” RIEZ (_From Texier and
Pullan_).]
In the chapel of St Maxime six Roman columns have been utilized. But the
most remarkable monument of the place is the so-called “Temple” or
“Pantheon.” This consists externally of a plain square structure, 37
feet each way, but internally it is octagonal in plan (Fig. 135), with
four deep niches in the sides opposite the angles of the square. Within
the octagon are eight columns standing detached, so as to form an aisle
all round, while they support an octagonal drum (Fig. 136), roofed over
with a dome. The aisle is vaulted, with an irregular form, composed of
about three-fourths of a pointed arch. The columns are ancient, but they
have evidently been removed from their original position, being unequal
in the length of the shafts, and the size and design of the capitals,
and have no doubt been collected from various sources. Texier
[Illustration: FIG. 137. FRÉJUS CATHEDRAL, CLOISTERS.]
and Pullan believe that this was an ancient Roman structure converted to
Christian uses in the sixth century; but excavations in the floor have
revealed the remains of a large baptismal basin, similar to the original
Italian ones, thus leaving no doubt as to the primitive destination of
the structure. The pointed arch over the aisle is also a sign of its
belonging to post-Roman times. It is certainly one of the most
interesting of the early Christian edifices in Provence.
Returning to Fréjus, we observe that the cloisters, which are on the
north side of the small court or lobby adjoining the baptistery, were
erected at a somewhat later date than the tower, in a style strongly
recalling the Italian-Gothic of Florence and Genoa, which we here meet
with for the first time in our eastward progress (Fig. 137). The arcades
of the cloisters are plain, and rest on coupled columns, with caps
carved in the style of the Italian-Gothic of the fifteenth century, the
whole being carefully and elegantly executed in white marble; and,
though now sadly built up and mutilated, they still possess a
wonderfully picturesque and charming effect. The coupled columns were
evidently not intended to support vaulting, but to carry the unique and
effective wooden roof (Fig. 138), part of which still exists, but is so
greatly decayed that it has to be supported with rough props and wedges.
At a still later period the entrance front of the cathedral has been
altered and finished in its present ungainly form (Fig. 133). The floor
of the cathedral, owing to the slope of the ground, is several feet
below the present level outside, and has to be approached by descending
steps. Originally the entrance to the narthex was no doubt on the level
of the cathedral floor. The outside level has apparently, however, been
heightened before the present entrance doorway was built, as it
[Illustration: FIG. 138. FRÉJUS CATHEDRAL, CLOISTERS.]
conforms to the level of the “place” on the south of the church. The
late Gothic style of this doorway, in which Renaissance details are
mixed with Gothic forms, belongs to the sixteenth century. The wall
adjoining has been rebuilt and heightened at the same date, and an
attempt has been made to bring the whole façade into a symmetrically
balanced design, in accordance with one of the leading principles of the
classic style then beginning to be revived. The wooden doors are
beautifully carved with Scripture subjects mingled with Gothic details.
This building is a specimen of the imperfect and fragmentary manner in
which the Northern Gothic style was employed in Provence. We have here
also an example (and we shall meet with more frequent instances as we
proceed eastwards) of the spread of the Italian-Gothic style beyond its
ordinarily understood boundary. But as all the country between Genoa and
Toulon was for long either under the sway of Genoa or of the Grimaldi of
Monaco, it is only natural to find traces of Italian taste in the
Riviera, which indeed is in all respects far more Italian than French.
Fig. 139 shews an ancient lamp of brass work suspended in the centre of
the cathedral.
[Illustration: FIG. 139.
BRASS LAMP IN FRÉJUS CATHEDRAL
(_From a Drawing by Mr R. Burns Begg_).]
The houses in the town of Fréjus possess many quaint bits of
architectural detail, amongst which the woodwork of the old doorways
may be specially mentioned (Fig. 140). Similar telling and original
specimens of wood and iron work, it may be remarked, are not uncommon
throughout the Riviera.
[Illustration: FIG. 140. DOORWAYS IN FRÉJUS]
St Raphaël, a small town a few miles to the eastward, now forms the port
of Fréjus. The mountainous district of “Les Maures,” which lies along
the coast between Toulon and Fréjus, may either be visited from Hyères
on the west (by diligence), or from St Raphaël on the east (by steamer).
The latter mode forms a long but very pleasant day’s excursion. A small
trading steamer leaves St Raphaël on certain days (mentioned in the
“Indicateur”) at 8.30 a.m., and reaches St Tropez about 10.15, after a
pleasant voyage round the headlands between the Gulf of Fréjus and that
of Grimaud. St Tropez occupies the site of the ancient Heraclea
Caccabaria, an important naval station in Roman times. The town has
several times been destroyed by the Saracens and Corsairs, who in the
ninth century took possession of the whole of the detached chain of
mountains still called after them by the name of “Les Maures.” The
sheltered gulf of Grimaud formed a fine harbour for their ships, and the
port St Tropez was then a place from which a considerable trade was
carried on with the African coast. In the later centuries it suffered
the usual disturbances under Charles of Anjou, and in the wars of
Religion.
[Illustration: FIG. 141. ST TROPEZ.]
The town still possesses some trade, and there is a fair number of
coasting vessels in the harbour, to which, with their large brown sails,
they give a peculiar and pleasing effect (Fig. 141). Some of the houses
shew signs of having seen better days, but the whole place has a
somewhat decayed and crumbling appearance. The town is surmounted by a
castle, which was constructed in 1793, on the top of the hill to the
south. It is surrounded with high walls loopholed for musketry and
strengthened with bastions. The traffic in fish seems to be
considerable, and is carried on in a dark vaulted market place, where
the fish are exposed for sale, and where they are kept cooler than in
the open air. The entrance to this fishy cave is somewhat picturesque
(Fig. 142).
[Illustration: FIG. 142. ENTRANCE TO FISHMARKET, ST TROPEZ.]
[Illustration: FIG. 143. GRIMAUD FROM THE PLAIN.]
A daily omnibus runs from St Tropez to Cogolin at the upper end of the
Gulf of Grimaud, forming a very pretty drive of an hour and a quarter.
At Cogolin the road to Hyères branches off to the left, and that to Le
Luc to the right. A daily diligence runs each way between Cogolin and Le
Luc. There is time, after the arrival of the omnibus from St Tropez, to
walk on to Grimaud and wait for the diligence there. In crossing the
plain the towering ruins of the castle, crowning a lofty pyramidal hill,
are seen rising about two miles off, and give promise of a splendid
subject. From the base of the hill (Fig. 143) the white houses of the
town clustering round the grey walls of the castle have a commanding
appearance, and even when seen close they form some fine and picturesque
combinations. But from an architectural point of view the castle is
disappointing, being reduced to a mere skeleton of two towers, connected
by a ruined wall of enceinte (Fig. 144). It was built in the fifteenth
century by Italian architects for the Grimaldi, to whom this country
then belonged, and it was occupied till the middle of last century.
[Illustration: FIG. 144. CASTLE OF GRIMAUD.]
Many of the houses of the town are new, but there are also some very old
and picturesque streets, bordered with rude arcades. The church, though
modernised, has retained its old tunnel vault, with transverse ribs, and
simple Provençal mouldings. It has also a semi-circular apse, and a
round arched door, with very deep voussoirs, like that of
Hyères--possibly a survival of the art of the Moors.
The diligence passes here at 2 P.M., and reaches Le Luc about 4.30,
after a very fine drive through a mountainous country, covered with
noble old forest trees. These consist chiefly of chestnuts and cork
oaks, which have grown to a great size, the latter furnishing the
materials for the chief industry of the country. The road consists of a
long hill up to the Col or pass, on which stands LA GARDE FREINET, and
then a long descent down to the plain of the Argens. La Garde Freinet is
a small town occupying the site of the famous Fraxinet, or chief citadel
of the Moors, which gave its name to all their other settlements in
Provence. The Moors took possession of this lofty district in the ninth
century, and from it, as a secure centre, they made their predatory
descents on the surrounding fertile plains. But in 973, after a severe
struggle, they were driven out by a combination of the Christian
inhabitants of Provence.
The ancient Fraxinet stood on the summit of a perpendicular rock to the
north of the village; but there are almost no vestiges left of the
fortress, save a square cistern for water. The town, as seen from the
descent on the north side, with its background of precipitous rocks and
the deep wooded valley in front, presents one of the most striking and
remarkable pictures in this singular locality. The drive down to Le Luc
is delightful; the pine woods and rocky glens recalling the peculiar
scenery characteristic of our Scottish Highlands.
After passing St Raphaël, the railway has to cut its way through the
rocky promontories which here terminate the Esterel range, and jut
boldly out into the Mediterranean. In alternate tunnels and viaducts it
sweeps round the Cap Roux, passing, on its way, the lovely bay of Agay,
and the wonderfully coloured rock masses of the red porphyritic
mountains, which contrast so admirably with the rich green pine woods
filling the ravines which furrow the hillsides. These mountains were
quarried by the Romans, and furnished them with supplies of red and blue
porphyry for the adornment of their buildings. They are
[Illustration: FIG. 145. CASTLE OF NAPOULE.]
still worked, and yield a considerable quantity of hard materials used
for street paving. On rounding the point of the Cap Roux, the wide and
beautiful bay of Cannes opens to view, with its long range of white
villas, backed by the dark pine-covered hills, beyond which the snowy
peaks of the Basses Alpes are visible in the distance. The prominent
mass of the Mont du Chevalier marks the centre, while the picture is
bounded on the left by the valley of the Siagne, and on the right by the
Iles de Lérins, with the Castle of St Honorat rising boldly from the sea
on the furthest point. In the hollow of the bay, near the mouth of the
Siagne, and commanding a fine view of Cannes, stands the ancient Castle
of Napoule (Fig. 145), where some fragments of old work still survive;
but a new château occupies the principal portion of the old site. Two of
the original square towers are in fair preservation, and, together with
the chapel and crenellated walls, form an interesting group (Fig. 146).
The style seems to have been partly that of the castellated buildings of
Italy, with V-shaped merlons between the embrasures, while the voussoirs
of the arches are of the deep form observed at Grimaud and Hyères.
[Illustration: FIG. 146. CASTLE OF NAPOULE.]
Napoule is supposed to have been a Roman port, having a depôt for grain
connected with it. The castle was built by the Counts of Villeneuve in
the fourteenth century. It belonged to that branch of the family called
Villeneuve Franc, and afterwards to the family of Montgrand.
Close to Napoule rises the conical hill of St Peyré, on the top of which
are the scanty ruins of a castle and a chapel with an apse. At the base
of the hill, and close to the public road, may be seen the remains of
another apsidal chapel. Beyond this various branches of the Siagne are
crossed, when a small conical hill crowned with
[Illustration: FIG. 147. MONT ST CASSIEN.]
wood rises abruptly on the left, to which the distant towers of Grasse
and Mougin, with the mountains beyond, form a background. This hill is
the Mont St Cassien, where a famous hermitage existed, and where a great
popular festival is still held annually on the 23rd of July. An
entrenched post was formed here under the Romans, for the defence of
the Aurelian Way. On this spot was also erected a Temple of Venus
surrounded with a sacred grove called the Ara Luci (hence the modern
Arluc, a small town in the vicinity). In the seventh century this
heathen temple was demolished by the religious of the Lérins, and a
convent erected instead, which, in its turn, was destroyed by the
Saracens. A chapel with an open arcaded porch now marks the spot (Fig.
147), which, surrounded as it is with ancient cypresses and pines, is
one of the best designed structures of the kind in the district. Small
open-air chapels or shrines of this description, with arcaded porches,
are very common all over the Riviera, and often form very pleasing
objects in the landscape, occupying, as they frequently do, somewhat
prominent sites. They are almost invariably in a late Renaissance style
of architecture.
CANNES is the one of the health resorts which has perhaps made the
greatest progress within the last fifty years, having developed from the
small fishing village which Lord Brougham found it in 1831, when he
erected the first English villa, into a town of fine residences and
splendid hotels extending for about four miles along the coast, and
rising on the wooded hills, or nestling in the sheltered ravines which
seam their flanks.
Like most of the towns on the Riviera, Cannes owed its first existence
to a rocky eminence in the middle of a bay, forming at once a naturally
sheltered harbour and a suitable site for a fortification for its
defence (Fig. 148). It is therefore probably a place of very ancient
origin, and was in all likelihood the primitive Ligurian settlement of
Ægitna, where the Roman Consul Quintus Opimius obtained a victory over
the Ligurian tribes B.C. 155. The town was then handed over to the
Massiliotes, the allies of the Romans, and went by the name of Castrum
[Illustration: FIG. 148. BAY OF CANNES AND THE ESTERELLE MOUNTAINS.]
Massiliorum during the Middle Ages. Sometime before the tenth century it
became a fief of the powerful Abbey of the Lérins, to which the whole of
the adjacent country had gradually become subject. The ecclesiastical
suzerain was represented on the mainland by a “chevalier,” who occupied
the castle of Cannes, which crowned the rock above referred to, and was
surrounded with walls. On the slopes of the castle hill and round the
harbour at its base were erected the houses of the ancient town, and in
the same position still stand the dwellings of the native population,
approached by steep and narrow alleys (Fig. 149).
The summit of the hill is crowned with the only buildings in Cannes
having any claim to antiquity. These consist of the “Tour du Chevalier,”
the ancient Church of St Anne (formerly the chapel of the castle), and
the more modern parish church of the seventeenth century, the whole
being surrounded with the remains of walls, towers, and bastions of
various periods, enclosing open spaces and courtyards, and presenting a
very varied and picturesque _ensemble_.
The “Tour du Chevalier” (Fig. 150) is a structure of peculiar interest,
being the first we have met with of a series of similar towers which, we
shall find as we proceed, were erected in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries for the defence of the towns and churches of this district.
These towers are generally, like that at Cannes, square on plan (Fig.
151), and have walls built with courses of square dressed stones, having
the faces left rough. The ground floor is vaulted, and is entered only
from the first floor by an aperture in the vault. The entrance doorway
to the tower is on the first floor, at a considerable height above the
ground; being so placed for security and being only approachable by a
moveable ladder. The projecting step
[Illustration: FIG. 149. THE OLD TOWN OF CANNES.]
[Illustration: FIG. 150. TOUR DU CHEVALIER, CANNES.]
[Illustration: FIG. 151. PLAN AND SECTION OF THE “TOUR DU CHEVALIER,”
CANNES.]
to receive the top of the ladder is visible in the Tour du Chevalier,
beneath the entrance door. The latter has a straight lintel recessed
within a plain round arched opening. From the first floor level a stone
stair corbelled out from the interior of the wall and running round the
sides of the apartments led to the upper floors, which were originally
formed of timber, although now vaulted with flat arches of more recent
construction, probably of the sixteenth century. The roof was no doubt
flat and was provided with a crenellated parapet, projected on corbels
with machicolations between them. This parapet was only destroyed some
years ago, when the tower was struck by lightning. The openings for
light are small square apertures in the masonry without splay or
ornament. They have no internal bay, but are mere oblong holes passing
through the walls. These holes might almost be supposed to have been
used for projecting beams through, on which to rest wooden hoardings for
defence, but there are no doors for access to such works. According to
the Abbé Allier, in his History of the “Iles de Lérins,” this tower was
begun in 1073 by the Abbé Aldebert II., partly on Roman substructures.
The parapet was, however, not completed till 1395 by the Abbé Jean de
Thornafort. This tower and the other similar towers of this district (of
which more hereafter) occupied in their design an intermediate position
between the keeps of the North, such as that of Montmajour, and the
lofty towers of the Italian cities, of which those of Sienna and Verona
are well known examples. The courtyard of the castle was enclosed with
walls fortified with towers, of which some portions still remain, but
the enceinte has been greatly altered in later times, and converted into
bastions with platforms for guns, and parapets loopholed for musketry.
This was probably done during the Spanish wars of the sixteenth century.
Within the walls there were no doubt buildings for the residence of the
Chevalier and the garrison, the tower being only used for watching, and
as a keep or last resort in case of siege. Of the original structures
the only one besides the tower now remaining is the church of St Anne,
which, according to the Abbé Allier, was erected towards the end of the
twelfth century. This church forms an example of the simple style of
Cistertian architecture, which, as already remarked, was largely adopted
in Provence--especially, as we shall see, in many of the smaller
churches. In these we find the Cistertian plainness combined with the
plan of a simple nave without aisles, terminated with an apse at the
east end.
The Church of St Anne (Fig. 152), although erected in connection with
the castle, also served originally as the Town Church. It is of the same
simple type as Thoronet, but on a much smaller scale. The plan (Fig.
153) consists of one long nave, 87 feet in length by 20 feet wide, with
a round apse at the east end; and it has no aisles
[Illustration: FIG. 152. CHURCH OF ST ANNE.]
or transept. The walls are perfectly plain, both internally and
externally, and the roof is constructed with a pointed vault,
strengthened with square transverse ribs, which spring from simple
pilasters in the wall. The cornice between the wall head and the arch
consists of the same plain ovalo moulding as at Thoronet, and the part
of it forming the impost of the transverse ribs is “cut off” at the
sides, like the impost of the cloister arches at that abbey. Some of
these imposts, adjoining the central door, have a few rude and scarcely
intelligible carvings on them--apparently
[Illustration: FIG. 153. PLAN OF ST ANNE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 154. DOORWAY OF ST ANNE.]
of human heads. The apse is semi-circular, with a very short choir
raised one step, and covered with a semi-dome as at Thoronet, but there
is no round window above the choir arch. The original doorway (Fig. 154)
enters from the north side, where, probably, the outer bailey of the
castle was situated. It is composed of a simple outer and inner round
arch, forming one nook. The impost is a plain cavetto, the portion
supporting the inner arch being “cut off” at the sides. The doorway is 5
feet wide; but, in later times, this was found too large, and it has
been partly built up and reduced. It was probably placed near the centre
of the church, and made of the above width for the convenience of the
town’s people. There is a door in the west bay of the chapel, placed on
a high level, which may have been used for access from the castle to a
gallery or upper floor, such as was frequently introduced in similar
castle chapels.
[Illustration: FIG. 155. MONT DU CHEVALIER, CANNES.]
At a comparatively recent date the walls of the chapel have been raised
(Fig. 155), and the top of its vault used to form a platform for guns,
to aid in the defence of the town and castle.
The existing parish Church of Notre Dame d’Espérance occupies a
prominent position on the Mont du Chevalier. It is a heavy building of
the eighteenth century. The only redeeming feature it possesses is the
west doorway (Fig. 156), which is a good example of the Renaissance work
of the seventeenth century. The tower at the north-east angle of the
church (seen in the above view) has been raised in comparatively recent
times on the substructure of one of the original towers of the castle.
The lower portion with its round archway is certainly ancient. The upper
part, which is now the clock tower of the town, forms a prominent and
telling feature in all the views of Cannes.
[Illustration: FIG. 156. NOTRE DAME D’ESPÉRENCE, CANNES.]
In the bay, opposite Cannes, lie the two Iles de Lérins, dedicated
respectively to Ste Marguérite and St Honorat.
Architecturally speaking, the Island of St Honorat possesses the most
interesting series of buildings in the Riviera, combining, as it does,
some features of the architecture of every period and style of Provençal
art, whether Ecclesiastical or Civil.
This island, which is the outer and smaller of the two, held, for some
centuries, an important and honourable position in the West of Europe.
It was originally occupied as a post by the Romans, the materials of
whose buildings, in the form of broken bricks, etc., are scattered over
the soil. We shall also find that some Roman columns have been preserved
and utilised in the castle, while numerous Latin inscriptions may be
seen built into the walls of the modern cloisters. In the fifth century
the island seems to have been deserted when St Honorat retired to it,
and there founded a monastery, which was destined to become famous. It
constituted for long the chief repository of all the learning and
education which remained in Southern Gaul; and, like Iona, became a
centre from which missionaries issued to enlighten the surrounding
countries, and spread religion amongst the Barbarians. Besides many
other celebrities, St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is said to
have been educated here.
A monastery was erected in the centre of the little island, which is
only about half-a-mile in length. Some remains of a church of the
eleventh century were still extant in 1836, when Mérimée visited the
island. It was a simple basilica, having a nave of six bays, covered
with a pointed barrel vault, and side aisles with abutting vaults, like
Thoronet.