rapidly rising around it, along the recently constructed and improved
roads; but on the higher ground some of the more antique houses and
narrow lanes are still preserved near the quaint old church of Notre
Dame des Anges (Fig. 180). Le Cannet forms an agreeable promenade from
Cannes; and it is well worth while to continue the walk or drive
northwards for about two miles through the magnificent groves of olives
which here clothe the valley, as far as the base of the hill, on the
summit of which stands the ancient town of MOUGINS. Whether viewed from
below, or from the hill above on the right close by the ancient and
picturesque church of Notre Dame de Vie (Fig. 181), the effect of the
old town crowning its rocky and olive-clad height is always striking.
The climb up the steep and many-stepped mule path to the habitations on
the summit is no small task, but the labour is well repaid by the
splendid
[Illustration: FIG. 181. NOTRE DAME DE VIE AND MOUGINS.]
views thence obtained in all directions, especially towards Grasse, and
by the picturesque vistas which meet the eye at every turn in the
ancient narrow streets. One of the original gateways of the town (Fig.
182) is still preserved, with its machicolated parapet and the grooves
for the portcullis behind its plain pointed arch. It is supposed that
Mougins is the Mons Ægitna to which the native tribes retired, and where
they fortified themselves after being driven from Cannes (or Ægitna) by
the Romans. In returning to Cannes, the route may be delightfully varied
by a walk over the hills, past Notre Dame de Vie, and along the footpath
beside the aqueduct, which brings the water supply from the sources of
the Siagne (some twenty miles off by road, but double the distance
measured round the windings of the canal) to Cannes and Antibes.
Castellaras, about a couple of miles north from Mougins, is another
splendid point of view. An ancient castle here occupies the summit of a
hill, and is partly surrounded with its old wall of enceinte, but the
most of the buildings connected with it are modern.
[Illustration: FIG. 182. MOUGINS, GATE TO TOWN.]
The most important place, however, lying a few miles inland from Cannes,
is GRASSE, an ancient town of some celebrity, and still a place of
considerable business and movement. It lies about ten miles north from
Cannes, and may be approached by several roads or by railway. One road
goes to the westward, by the plain of Laval and the valley of the
Siagne, passing through the little town of Pégomas, and within a short
distance of AURIBEAU (Fig. 183), an ancient city perched on the crest of
a lofty hill. From this point the road steadily ascends, till, after a
long climb, Grasse, which stands about 1000 feet above the sea, comes
into view, its houses clustering round the old cathedral, and rising in
the form of an amphitheatre (Fig. 184), tier over tier up the hillside
on which it is built. From the height at which the town stands, the view
over the luxuriant lower ground between it and Cannes is very commanding
and delightful, the whole of the valley being laid out as gardens for
the cultivation of the roses, violets, and other sweet scented flowers,
from which the perfumes for which Grasse is famous are distilled.
[Illustration: FIG. 183. AURIBEAU.]
From an early time Grasse was an industrious and commercial town. It
thus became rich, and its wealth brought upon it frequent attacks from
the Saracens while they had their headquarters at the Great Fraxinet.
Early in the twelfth century the inhabitants followed the example of the
Italian towns with which they had commerce by constituting themselves a
free republic. Their consuls formed treaties with Pisa and Genoa, and
unfortunately the town got mixed up with Italian politics and the
disputes of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. This led to the usual unhappy
result of dividing the people into violent factions, and enabled Raymond
Béranger, Count of Provence, in 1226, under pretext of aiding the
Guelph party, to render himself master of the town. In the sixteenth
century Grasse shared the unhappy fate of the rest of this part of
France, when Francis I. found himself unable to defend it against
Charles V., and therefore laid the whole country waste. The town also
suffered greatly during the religious wars of the seventeenth century.
[Illustration: FIG. 184. GRASSE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 185. PLAN OF GRASSE CATHEDRAL.]
[Illustration: FIG. 186. GRASSE CATHEDRAL, WEST END.]
The most important building in Grasse is the cathedral. It is the first
church we have seen, on our way eastwards, which represents a type
essentially different from that of Provence, and markedly akin to the
architecture of Italy--a characteristic which we shall find more and
more strongly developed in our progress along the Riviera. The plan
(Fig. 185), like that of most of the churches of Italy, consists of a
central nave and side aisles, all originally terminated with eastern
apses, the
[Illustration: FIG. 187. GRASSE CATHEDRAL (_Campanile at N.E. angle_).]
existing choir, which is square, being a late addition. The character of
the exterior is essentially Italian (Fig. 186), being similar in its
forms and ornament to the churches of Pisa and Genoa, with which towns,
as above-mentioned, Grasse had commercial relations. The arcaded
ornament at the eaves is very Lombardic, and the doorways of the west
front and north side (Fig. 187) are of the ordinary Italian design of
the thirteenth century, with low pitched roof. The tall and simple
square campanile is also Italian in conception. The design of the
interior (Fig. 188) is somewhat remarkable, the massive circular piers
with their cushion caps having more of the character of a Northern than
of a Southern edifice. They remind one, however, of those of
Carcassonne. The solid square groins of the vault, springing from very
simple corbels, are of a usual Provençal form--such, for instance, as
those of Fréjus Cathedral. Close to the cathedral stands one of the
square towers (Fig. 189), similar to that of the Mont du Chevalier at
Cannes, which we have noticed as being common in the towns of this
[Illustration: FIG. 188. GRASSE CATHEDRAL.]
[Illustration: FIG. 189. KEEP TOWER, GRASSE.]
province. It is built with the usual rough-faced ashlar work, but its
other distinctive features are now lost, the interior being occupied as
dwelling-rooms. This tower adjoins the ancient Bishop’s Palace, now the
Municipal Buildings. Near this--and, indeed, scattered everywhere
through the narrow and busy streets of Grasse--are
[Illustration: FIG. 190. STAIRCASE, GRASSE.]
to be seen many fragments of the massive architecture of its ancient
palaces. These are easily distinguished from their being built with the
same rough-faced, solid masonry as the tower; and they often still
retain a door or window of pointed form, recalling the older palaces
occasionally found in the similar crowded lanes of Genoa. There are also
some examples in Grasse of the great houses of the merchant princes of
the Renaissance period, so distinctive of the Italian cities. The
picturesque staircase of one of these is still preserved (Fig. 190).
This building stands at the east end of one of the charming open
“places,” surrounded with arcades, planted with trees, and enlivened
with fountains, in which Grasse abounds, and which form such attractive
subjects for the artist. In one of the narrow streets stands the Church
of the “Oratoire,” (Fig. 191), the strikingly Italian façade of which at
once arrests attention. It is evidently a building of the fifteenth
century, and is exactly such a design as may be found in any of the
cities of Northern Italy. The annexed sketch (Fig. 192) of one of the
caps of the main piers is suggestive, and corresponds with similar
details of the same period in Italy.
[Illustration: FIG. 191. CHURCH OF THE ORATOIRE, GRASSE.]
From Grasse several very interesting excursions may be made, and a
number of ancient buildings investigated. A very fine, although a long
day’s expedition, is the drive to St Césaire and Callian. The former is
reached by a side road, which branches off the main road to Draguignon,
about six miles west of Grasse, and after a climb of three miles further
up amongst the mountains finally arrives at St Césaire, beyond which all
progress westwards is stopped on the crest of the great cliffs which hem
in the gorge of the Siagne.
[Illustration: FIG. 192.
FROM L’ORATOIRE, GRASSE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 193. ST CÉSAIRE, ANCIENT GATEWAY.]
It is therefore necessary to return to the main road, itself
sufficiently winding and romantic, along which a further course of eight
to nine miles conducts to Montauroux and Callian. The whole journey
there and back to Grasse thus extends to about thirty-seven miles, but
can easily be accomplished in one day with a pair of the hardy ponies of
the country.
The main road from Grasse descends by numerous wide loops towards the
valley, and skirts the lofty mountains on the right, where several
picturesque looking villages are seen clustering on the hillsides.
At Tignet the ruins of an ancient commandery of the templars are passed,
but there is nothing of architectural interest sufficient to detain the
traveller till St Césaire, amongst its remote and snow-clad hills, is
reached.
[Illustration: FIG. 194. AT ST CÉSAIRE.]
The town of ST CÉSAIRE is charmingly situated about nine miles west from
Grasse. It stands on the edge of a lofty precipice overlooking the
valley of the Siagne, which is here full of remarkable scenery and
interesting grottoes and fountains, forming a romantic region, from
which starts the aqueduct which supplies fresh water to Cannes and
Antibes. St Césaire possesses still some remains of its ancient walls
and gates (Fig. 193), some quaint pieces of carving over doorways etc.
(Fig. 194). But its most interesting feature architecturally, is the
ancient church which stands in its quiet churchyard outside the town,
relieved against a background of snowy mountains (Fig. 195). It is
similar in its Cistertian simplicity to those of Cannes and Vallauris,
and differs only in having, instead of plain pilasters, rounded vaulting
shafts, with simple caps and bases (Fig. 196), the former very similar
to those of Thoronet. The church is 45 feet long by 20 wide (Fig. 197),
divided into three bays, with apse 9 feet deep to the eastward. As at
Vallauris there are two doors, one at the west end and one in the south
side, the latter pointed externally and round internally. The windows
have round arches, with the usual deep external splay, at the inner edge
of which the opening is narrowed by two half roll mouldings, probably
with a view to prevent draughts in this lofty and exposed region. For
the same reason there are only three very small windows, two on the
south side and one in the apse.
[Illustration: FIG. 195. CHURCH OF ST CÉSAIRE.]
This church probably dates from the early part of the thirteenth
century. Both the exterior and the interior are well preserved. The
walls have been heightened at a later date, but why is not clear. As the
alteration does not affect the interior, it has probably been done to
make the slope of the roof harmonise with the west front, which has been
altered and a belfry added.
[Illustration: FIG. 196. CHURCH OF ST CÉSAIRE.]
As in all the churches of the style, the tiles of the roof rest directly
on the outside of the arches.
An ancient carved front (shewn in Fig. 194) is lying outside the
church.
[Illustration: FIG. 197. PLAN OF CHURCH, ST Césaire.]
[Illustration: FIG. 198. CHÂTEAU DE TOURNON, NEAR ST CÉSAIRE.]
The main road, from the point where the branch to St Césaire leaves it,
continues westwards and descends with many wide and bold sweeps till it
reaches the Siagne, which it crosses at Les Veyans, and again ascends
the steep and wooded valley on the opposite side. Soon the rugged ruins
of the castle of Tournon (Fig. 198) are seen frowning over the pass from
their rocky eminence, which can only be reached after a hard climb
through the thick wood and thorny heath which clothe the hillside. But
that trouble is rewarded by the discovery of a rude and remarkable
edifice. This consists of a Keep of semi-circular form built on the
edge of a precipice which forms the diameter of the circle, and has
apparently been considered a sufficient defence of the structure on that
side. A semi-circular lofty wall of enceinte surrounds the keep on the
side next the hill. The entrance gateway was doubtless in this wall
where there is now a ruinous gap. The building is reduced to bare and
shattered walls, so that its interior arrangements cannot be determined,
but it must have been a very singular and unique structure.
[Illustration: FIG. 199. TOWN AND CASTLE OF CALLIAN.]
Near the highest point of the road, in continuing westwards, the village
of La Colle-Noire stands across the way, and in olden times stopped all
passage by means of gates in its walls. Beyond this, an open country
rich in vines and olives is traversed, from which another long ascent
leads to the town of Montauroux, standing on a promontory, crowned with
the ruins of the Fort St Barthélemy, destroyed in 1592. A wide curve of
the road, round a fine amphitheatre of terraced lands, leads from
Montauroux to Callian, another little town perched on the hillside, and
commanded by the immense ruins of an old castle (Fig. 199), which like
all the others in the province, was sacked in 1792, and of which only
the shattered shell remains. It would appear from the mullioned windows
and round tower, to have been built in the fifteenth century, and has
evidently been altered in the seventeenth, by the insertion of numerous
large oblong openings. In the sixteenth century this pile was inhabited
by Jean de Grasse.
[Illustration: FIG. 200. LE BAR, S. DOORWAY OF CHURCH.]
From Grasse another excursion of surpassing interest, not only on
account of the magnificent natural scenery passed through, but also from
the variety of the architectural remains, may be made to the eastward
leading by Le Bar and Vence to Cagnes, where the Paris, Lyons, and
Mediterranean Railway is reached. The whole distance is about
twenty-five miles. The first place of note arrived at after leaving
Grasse is LE BAR, about six miles to the eastward. It stands on a
platform at a considerable height and enjoys a fine view to the
southwards. The church, not remarkable otherwise, has a Roman
inscription built into the tower, and a fine Italian Gothic doorway
(Fig. 200) in the south side. This doorway, with its twisted nook shafts
and arch mouldings, plain caps, and enclosing notched weather table,
might have been found in almost any part of Italy. Wooden doors covered,
like this one of Le Bar, with elaborate carvings, are a feature of
common occurrence in every part of the province, and are often of much
interest and beauty. The church contains two remarkable Mediæval
paintings which were thought worthy of notice at the great Exhibition of
Paris, to which they had been sent. The town is still dominated by the
relics of a great castle of the Middle Ages, of which some towers
remain, but it is now greatly ruined and shorn of its grandeur. Some of
the old walls of the town also still survive, and give this quaint old
place, perched as it is on the steep slope of the hill, an unusual and
striking aspect.
From Le Bar the main road descends in wide curves towards the valley of
the river Loup, but long before reaching the bottom of the gorge the eye
is attracted by the unusual appearance of towers and pinnacles rising
from the summit of a lofty pyramidal mountain to the northwards (Fig.
201). These distant peaks are found on nearer approach to be the
edifices of the town of GOURDON, an eyrie built for security from the
assaults of the Corsairs on this inaccessible and naturally fortified
eminence.
[Illustration: FIG. 201. GOURDON.]
A post road, branching off the main road at Le Bar, passes, after many
windings and ascents round the rocky sides of the opposite cliffs,
within a short distance of Gourdon; but for those who intend going on to
Vence, the latter course is too great a deviation from the route. Their
only way of reaching Gourdon is by the steep and stony footpath which is
seen rising to it in innumerable zig-zags from near the bridge over the
Loup.
It is a splendid ascent, although a somewhat arduous one, and affords a
lovely series of views; but it may be questioned whether one is
sufficiently rewarded by the specimens of architecture which he finds in
Gourdon. It is now a melancholy and deserted village, occupied
apparently only by a few women and children. Some of the houses are
picturesque in their grouping, like those in Fig. 202, but there is
nothing fine about the place except the magnificent view to the south,
east, and west from the terrace in front of the old church. One very
large building seems to swamp all the rest of the little town. This is a
great château (Fig. 203), built by the family of Lombard in the style of
the seventeenth century, and which, we believe, is still occupied in
summer, when the cool breezes of this elevated pinnacle form a grateful
change from the heat of the plains.
[Illustration: FIG. 202. HOUSES IN GOURDON.]
From the point where the main road crosses the Loup, a delightful
excursion may be made up the gorge amongst the mountains, as far as a
famous waterfall called the “Saut du Loup.”
[Illustration: FIG. 203. CHÂTEAU, GOURDON.]
The road now gradually ascends the northern side of the valley of the
Loup, which is seen flowing at some distance below on the right through
a richly cultivated plain. In some of the cuttings by which the road is
carried round the rocks, numerous oyster and other fossil shells may be
observed, characteristic of the tertiary limestone which here occurs of
great thickness, and forms the immense cliffs which at some parts of the
coast overhang the Mediterranean.
On approaching TOURETTES the road sweeps round the abrupt side of a
gorge where the rock is hollowed out into caverns, some of which are
occupied as houses and stores. From this point a fine view is obtained
of the grey old town of Tourettes, with its crumbling walls and houses
rising from the margin of precipitous rocks of the same sad dusty
colour. There seems to be nothing of special interest in the town, but
outside the walls on the north side there is a wide open “place,” on
which stand the Hôtel de Ville and the church of the fourteenth century.
The latter is a specimen built on the plan of the simple hall without
aisles. In this instance it is vaulted with groined arches (Fig. 204),
the ribs having the unusual form of a plain bead, and springing from
small primitive looking corbels, such as are common in Provençal
churches.
[Illustration: FIG. 204. CHURCH, TOURETTES.]
The font (Fig. 205) in this church is of a rather remarkable design.
A few miles’ further drive through fine mountain scenery brings us to
the ancient city of Vence (described further on), whence the railway
station of Vence-Cagnes is about six miles distant.
[Illustration: FIG. 205. FONT, TOURETTES.]
We shall now return to Cannes and follow the route eastwards along the
coast of the Mediterranean. This takes us first by the fine sheltered
roadstead of Golfe Jouan to the city of ANTIBES, which stands upon a
rocky peninsula jutting out into the sea, and enclosing a sheltered bay
and harbour, defended on the opposite point by a great star-shaped
fortification called the Fort Carré, erected by Vauban. The town itself
is surrounded with walls, and strongly fortified in the style of the
seventeenth century, of which it is a good and little altered specimen.
The views of the town from the sea coast are charming (Fig. 206).
Surrounded on the land side with its great stone ravelins and bastions,
and protected on the south by its rocky seaboard, with the snowy peaks
of the Maritime Alps forming a background, and the bright blue of the
Mediterranean in the foreground, a finer picture can hardly be imagined.
The town of Antibes is of very ancient origin. According to M.
Lenthéric, a sacred stone of the Phœnicians has here been found, with a
Greek inscription, giving proof of the ancient worship of the Hellenes
having been observed in this locality in the fifth century B.C. This
town was also an important station under the Romans. In very early
Christian times it became the see of a bishop,
[Illustration: FIG. 206. ANTIBES (_from W._)]
but being greatly exposed to the attacks of the Saracen Corsairs, from
whom it suffered severely, the see was in 1243 removed for security to
Grasse. There were originally four bishoprics in this part of the
Riviera, viz.:--Nice, Antibes (afterwards Grasse), Vence, and Fréjus.
The whole are now comprised in the two dioceses of Nice and Fréjus.
As a frontier town Antibes was necessarily much damaged during the wars
between Francis I. and Charles V., being frequently attacked and
pillaged. Its ancient buildings have thus been almost entirely
demolished, either by the direct effects of war or in the construction
of the fortifications, so that scarcely a trace of Roman occupation
remains, save in some tombs, inscriptions, and urns which have been dug
up. The oldest existing structures stand on the highest point of the
rock facing the sea. Here we find some parts of the cathedral of the
thirteenth century, and two towers in the style of those of the Mont du
Chevalier at Cannes. The church is very simple in design, and seems to
have been originally similar to that of Vence, but it has been greatly
altered and a new front added in the seventeenth century (Fig. 207). The
two towers at Antibes are of peculiar interest. At Cannes there is only
one tower or keep, which was attached to the castle of the Chevalier. At
Antibes one of the towers (Fig. 208) is in connection with an old palace
(now a barrack), which doubtless occupies the site of the ancient
castle, being on the summit of the rock, and suitably placed for keeping
a look-out seawards. The other tower is close to the cathedral (Fig.
207), and is still connected with it by a covered way on the first
floor. It seems probable that the first was the keep of the temporal
Commandant and the other that of the spiritual Lord. The frequent
incursions of the Corsairs would render such a place of security
desirable in
[Illustration: FIG. 207. TOWER OR KEEP ATTACHED TO CATHEDRAL, ANTIBES.]
connection with the cathedral, and would also enable the bishop to be
independent of the temporal power. Both keeps are constructed in the
same manner as that of the Mont du Chevalier with rough faced ashlar
blocks, and in both the entrance doorway is on the first floor. That of
the castle (Fig. 208) is recessed under a plain round arch, and has a
moulded step to receive the ladder or moveable stair by which it was
approached. There are also two corbels, one on each side of the doorway,
as if for the purpose of carrying a pent house roof. The stair is
carried up round the inside of the walls and supported on corbels as at
Cannes. The castle tower has in modern times been lowered and covered
with a sloping roof. The bishop’s tower is now used as the belfry of the
church, and has had large round headed openings cut in it near the top
to let out the sound of the bells.
[Illustration: FIG. 208. TOWER OR KEEP OF THE CASTLE, ANTIBES.]
On the left of this tower in the sketch (Fig. 207) may be observed some
remains of similar workmanship in the masonry, which indicate the
position of another ancient structure above which a modern house has
been erected. Some fragments of ancient walls, and a gateway with two
large round towers, may be observed on the eastern side of the Rue
Aubernon, and these, together with the arcades on the opposite side, and
the double row of trees which line the boulevard, form a striking and
picturesque promenade. These walls doubtless enclosed the ancient
_cité_, and the Rue Aubernon occupies the position of the original
ditch. The fortifications of the existing town extend a long way beyond
this ancient boundary.