David MacGibbon

HAVING now glanced rapidly at the general history and various phases of the architecture of Provence during the Middle Ages, we shall recommence our journey at Lyons, and visit the various places on our route southwards to Marseilles, and thence westwards and eastwards along the Riviera, where architectural subjects are to be found, giving a more detailed account of each in its turn, and specially noting those of the

MEDIÆVAL PERIOD.

At Lyons the traveller is at once introduced to the local style in the Church of the Ainay, which however is much modernised and restored. Some portions of the walls may be as old as the tenth century, but the consecration of the existing building (barring subsequent restorations) took place in 1107. The four granite columns of the choir are possibly antique.

The church has the Basilican form, with central nave and side aisles. The square lantern over the crossing, which forms a dwarf tower externally and cupola internally, is peculiar to this part of the country. The square tower at the west end (Fig. 35) with its successive stages of small windows, has a far-off resemblance to the ancient brick campaniles of Italy—a resemblance which we shall find more strikingly illustrated in more Southern examples. The peculiar incrustations in red and other coloured stones, which have a pleasing and Eastern effect, are a feature of common occurrence in the churches of the Auvergnat, not far distant from Lyons towards the south-west. The pointed doorways are modern, but are reproductions of a restoration of the twelfth century.

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FIG. 35. THE AINAY, LYONS.

The cathedral is a fine specimen of the mixed style of this part of the country, the choir being partly Romanesque of the end of the twelfth century. The flat arcades of the interior (Fig. 36), composed of large trefoiled arches, resting on fluted pilasters, are very characteristic of the Burgundian style. The idea of these pilasters is derived from those of the Roman gates at Autun. In the cathedral there as well as at Tournus, and other towns of Upper Burgundy, such pilasters are of frequent use. The form of the clerestory windows seems to have been borrowed from these arcades. The choir has an apse, but no aisle running round it, as invariably happens in the North. Externally it presents a curious gallery with twisted shafts and inlaid coloured stones, like those of the Ainay. The towers at the transepts are a remarkable feature. The nave is Nothern Gothic work of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,—but the vaulting is sexpartite, a form entirely abandoned in the North at that date. Some of the carving on the west front is very vigorous and fine, recalling the splendid work on the portals of the north and south transepts of Rouen.

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FIG. 36. ARCADES IN CATHEDRAL, LYONS.

Altogether this building presents in the choir and transepts a singular mixture of the styles of Upper Burgundy, with those of the Rhine on the East, and Auvergne on the West; while the nave is an example of a transplanted design of Nothern Gothic.

In descending the Rhone the valley soon narrows, and we pass into the gorges amongst the mountains. On one of the rocky heights which jut out into the valley, the ancient spires of Vienne, and the summit of Mont Pipet, crowned with its Roman citadel, stand boldly out against the sky.

The town occupies a strong position and commands the pass, hence it was occupied as a fortress by the Allobroges from early times. Afterwards an important city under the Romans (as already mentioned in Part IV.), it continued so during the Middle Ages. But it suffered severely from the attacks of invaders, being first ravaged by the Lombards, and afterwards by the Saracens.

In the ninth century Boson, King of Burgundy and Provence, made Vienne his capital. After the fall of that kingdom, the city declined, and became the possession of the Dukes of Albon, who governed under the title of Dauphins of Viennois, till 1349, when Humbert II. ceded the country to the King of France.

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FIG. 37. ST ANDRÉ-LE-BAS, VIENNE.

The towers of the two most ancient churches, viz., St AndrÉ-le-bas and St Pierre (Figs. 37 and 38), are very fine examples of the campanile-like designs of the South, and strikingly resemble that of the Ainay at Lyons. The former is ornamented with the arcading so characteristic of the churches of the Rhine and Lombardy, some of the miniature arches resting on corbels carved with grotesque heads. The tower of St Pierre has the large trilobed arch, also common in the region to the eastward.

St Pierre is very ancient and shews masonry constructed somewhat after the Roman manner, with courses of brickwork dividing the rubble. The west entrance is preceded by a porch or narthex in an early style.

St AndrÉ-le-bas was the chapel of the Duke of Burgundy. This church has a single nave (in the style of the south-west provinces), with groined vaulting and heavy buttresses, but the interior has been completely restored. An inscription fixes its date as 1142. There are also some remains of a fine cloister adjoining.

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FIG. 38. ST PIERRE, VIENNE.

The cathedral of St Maurice is, like that of Lyons, a mixture of different styles, and has few of the merits of any. It was begun in the eleventh century, and not completed till the sixteenth. The plan is that of a basilica with an apse at the east end of the choir. There are a central nave and side aisles, but the latter stop at their eastern extremity with square ends, and are not continued round the central apse. The eight eastmost pillars of the nave belong to the twelfth century, and are partly decorated with fluted pilasters in the style of Upper Burgundy. The caps are “historied,” or carved with

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FIG. 39. ST MAURICE, VIENNE.

figures after the Romanesque style; while the arches are pointed and ornamented with billet mouldings. Above and below the triforium gallery is a course of red stone containing sculptures of all sorts of subjects, like the inlaid work of Auvergne. The vaulting is of the fourteenth century. In the sixteenth century the proportions of the cathedral were found defective, the building being considered too short for its length, and several bays were then added to the west end in the florid Northern style of the period. The west portal (Fig. 39), with its richly carved tracery and sculpture, standing as it does at the top of a lofty flight of steps, rendered necessary by the slope of the ground to the westward, must have been a fine example of its style before the statues and carving, which so profusely adorned it, were destroyed during the wars of religion, by the Baron des Adrets, in 1562. The cathedral is 300 feet long by 100 feet wide, but, owing to the mixed character of its design, it is somewhat heavy in effect.

A remarkable example of a double round tower of Renaissance art (Fig. 40) stands close to the ancient Forum, and several specimens of antique houses of all ages are to be seen in the busy and picturesque streets.

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FIG. 40. HOUSE IN VIENNE.

The next town of importance reached is Valence, which, however, is not very rich in architectural subjects. The cathedral (St Apollinaire) is of the twelfthcentury, and shews some special features indicative of the influence of the style of Auvergne, such as an arcade on the outside of the nave, with alternate round and straight sided arches. The caps of the nave piers are very Corinthian in character, and the roof is a tunnel vault. The apse is round, and is strengthened with buttresses in the form of small shafts, a feature very common in Auvergne. But this and the other churches have all been reconstructed in Renaissance times. The Maison-des-TÊtes (Fig. 41), near the Place des Clercs is a well preserved and telling specimen of a florid domestic faÇade of 1534.

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FIG. 41. MAISON-DES-TETES, VALENCE.

In descending the Rhone the traveller cannot fail to notice that the precipitous mountains which bound the plain on the west side of the river are frequently crowned with the shattered remains of mediÆval castles. Of these one of the most striking is the Castle of Crussol (Fig. 42) opposite Valence. This great castle, now reduced to a mere fragmentary heap of ruins, was formerly the stronghold of the family of Crussol, Ducs d’UzÈs. It forms a fine feature in the landscape, and commands a splendid view of the course of the Rhone and the valley of the IsÈre, with the Alps to the eastward. But it is now so ruined that a closer inspection is somewhat disappointing to the architect.

A few miles lower down the very interesting ruins of the Monastery of Cruas are seen on the same side of the river. This may be conveniently reached by the railway on that side, or from MontÉlimar. The latter course forms a beautiful drive, without taking the traveller going south far from his direct line. Crossing the Rhone by the bridge of boats not far from the station, the ruins of what once was the powerful castle of Rochemaur meet the view, crowning the rocky height in front, and extending great walls of enceinte down to the village at the base. The detached tower forming the keep, which could only be approached by a draw-bridge, now stands a shattered ruin on its isolated peak.

FIG. 42. CASTLE OF CRUSSOL.

A drive of a few miles along a level road, above which on the left rise great masses of basaltic rock forming fantastic figures not unlike the ruins we have just passed, brings us to the village of Cruas, where we discover two architectural subjects of some importance. On the hill above the village stand the ruins of the ancient monastery, now greatly dilapidated, and having the space between the walls choked up with the steep and irregular streets of a small town.

The monastic buildings have almost entirely disappeared, the materials having doubtless served for the construction of the shabby houses which now occupy their place. Some portions of the enclosing walls, however, still survive, together with one very interesting edifice, which remains

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FIG. 43. ABBEY OF CRUAS FROM S.-W.

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FIG. 44. MONASTERY CHURCH, CRUAS.

tolerably entire. This is the ancient chapel of the abbey, originally a building of the twelfth century, but which in the fourteenth century was engulphed by the enclosing walls and fortifications then erected, and heightened so as to be converted into a keep (Fig. 43). The interior has, however, been preserved untouched, and shews the simple style of the Cistertians of the twelfth century (Fig. 44). The plan consists of a single nave with plain pilasters set against the side walls, from which spring the flat transverse arches which strengthen the round tunnel vault. The east end is terminated with a semi-circular apse roofed with a spherical dome, and ornamented with the small arcaded pattern so common at that period. On the left or northern side wall arches are introduced, as if for a side aisle, but there is no appearance of any aisles ever having existed. The plain round arched west doorway still exists, and the line of the original gable above it is distinctly observable in the masonry (see Fig. 43).

The keep built round and over the church is of remarkable design. Large round buttresses have been added at the outer angles, with square buttresses at the sides, and both are carried up so as to receive the arches which support the parapet on the top. These arches spring from bold corbels projecting from the buttresses, and are set well forward from the face of the walls, so as to leave a space between the main wall and the parapet. This space forms a long opening or machicolation, by means of which the base of the walls could be defended against hostile operations. We shall see by and by that this is the same form of machicolation as was adopted in the Pope’s Palace at Avignon, and elsewhere in the South.

The parapet is crenellated, and, from the beam holes still visible in the walls, we may infer that it was provided with wooden hoardings for defence.

The church in the village at the base of the hill (Fig. 45) has also some points of special interest. It is of early twelfth century design, and has a vaulted subterranean crypt with numerous sculptured caps. The upper church has a square tower at the west end, and a transept with three circular apses opening out of it to the east,—the central apse forming the choir, and the side apses lateral chapels. Over the crossing rises an octagonal lantern, containing a dome crowned with a smaller circular lantern. The

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FIG. 45. CHURCH AT CRUAS.

whole composition and style of ornamentation strongly recall the architecture of the Rhineland and Lombardy. The thin strips of pilasters on the apses and lantern, with small arcade-enrichment between, together with the general form of the lantern, strikingly recall the churches of Bonn and Cologne. The western tower again is similar to those we have left behind at Vienne and Lyons. This church, like many others we shall encounter, illustrates what has above been stated as to the universality of the one style which prevailed over the “Empire,” before it was broken up into separate nationalities.

Soon after leaving MontÉlimar with its frowning citadel, in which there are some ancient Romanesque details, and a great tower of the fourteenth century called the “Tour de Narbonne,” we observe on the opposite side of the Rhone the picturesque town of Viviers, clustering on a pyramidal rock, and appropriately crowned with the cathedral and spire. The church is of the fourteenth century, a single nave without aisles. It is said that the crowded and narrow streets contain some old houses, but the place is apparently more picturesque than architectural.

We now approach the country in which the peculiar elements of the ProvenÇal style become distinctly apparent. About four miles north-east from Pierrelatte, the ancient town of Garde AdhÉmar may be seen towering aloft on the crest of a bold promontory about 500 feet high. This town contains a Romanesque church with an eastern and western apse, after the German fashion, a rather remarkable feature here, but showing, like the ornaments already referred to, an influence from the Rhine. The side aisles are vaulted with quarter-circle arches, and the exterior is finished with a small belfry and steeple.

About six miles to the south-east of Pierrelatte lies the village of St Paul-trois-chÂteaux, where another very remarkable church is found. The town was of some importance from Roman times downward, and retained its bishop’s see till the Revolution. Several fine Roman sculptures have been found in the locality, and are preserved in the Calvet museum at Avignon; and a few remains of Roman structures and columns are still to be seen. But the most interesting edifice in the town is the ancient cathedral of the twelfth century. As this is the first building we have met with which is characteristically ProvenÇal in style, so it is also one which preserves in a very distinct and marked manner the traditional Roman

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FIG. 46. ST PAUL-TROIS-CHATEAUX. Part of Exterior (from RÉvoil).

features of that style. The annexed geometric view of one of the exterior bays (Fig. 46.)) shews how close is the imitation in the ProvenÇal architecture of the twelfth century of that of the Roman structures which no doubt then existed on the spot. The pilasters, crowned with their complete entablature of architrave, frieze, and cornice, and filled in with an intermediate arcade, might be part of a Roman amphitheatre (such as those at Nimes and Arles); and indeed it is supposed that traces of an ancient amphitheatre have been discovered at St Paul. Every detail might belong to the Lower Empire. The ornaments of the cornice are directly imitated from the modillions and leaf enrichments of Roman work; and the egg and dart, and other classic details are freely used throughout. The interior ornament is equally Roman in design. The east end is terminated with an apse, which has eight fluted columns. The two side aisles are covered with half wagon vaults, and the nave, which is unusually high, with a simple tunnel vault.

This locality brings us for the first time into contact with a tradition of which we shall find many traces in various parts of Provence, viz., that the Gospel was introduced into this country by the family of Lazarus, and some other contemporaries of Christ, who had been driven hither by persecution. At St Paul the story goes that the first bishop was the blind man whose sight was restored, and who assumed the name of Restitutus.

About three miles from St Paul may be seen the monument of this saint, said to be of very ancient and curious construction. It is partly built into the church, and is ornamented with a remarkable frieze, containing a rude representation of the last supper.

The station of La CroisiÈre is the nearest to a very remarkable specimen of mediÆval construction, the Pont St Esprit. This celebrated bridge was planned and begun in 1265 by Jean de Tensanges, the abbot of the order of Cluny, in the district of St Savourin du Port, which belonged to the abbey. It was thirty years in building, but we have proof that the work was well planned and skilfully executed, in the fact that it subsists till the present day. The length of the bridge is about 3000 feet, and the width of the roadway is 16 feet. There are twenty-two arches, all semi-circular in form, and constructed with carefully wrought courses of arch stones, forming separate rings set together side by side, but not bonded into one another. This mode of construction was probably borrowed from the bridge of St BÉnezet at Avignon, which again derived it from the Roman Pont du Gard. Over the piers are smaller arched openings to allow the water of the high floods of the Rhone to pass freely through. Like the Pont St BÉnezet at Avignon the Pont St Esprit does not run straight across the river, but is bent at an obtuse angle against the current so as to resist its pressure. The bridge was fortified at both ends by castles erected by the suzerains on the opposite sides of the river. These remained till the seventeenth century, when one of them was brought into connection with the citadel of the town constructed by Louis XIII. This was the last bridge erected by the “FrÈres hospitaliers pontifes” (of whom we shall hear more at Avignon). After the thirteenth century neither Communes nor Nobles found it necessary to apply to the monks for their aid as architects and engineers. By that time the lay architects had superseded them, in the manner above described (Part V.)

Passing next close under the rocky heights crowned with the picturesque ruins of the castles of Montdragon and Mornas, the massive wall of the theatre of Orange rising high above the plain arrests the eye.

A little further on the ramparts and gates of the small walled town of CourthÉzon are visible close to the railway; soon after passing which, the bold outline of the great Palace of the Popes discovers itself to view towering on its rock above the town of Avignon.

On nearer approach, the city walls and gates, surmounted with bold corbels and machicolations, and the numerous towers and spires of the churches, unite to give a striking first impression of the city. As it is chef-lieu of the department of Vaucluse, and the See of an Archbishop, Avignon is a town of some business and prominence. The traveller will here find better accommodation than he generally meets with in the country towns. This may therefore be regarded as a good place to establish one’s headquarters for a few days, both for the purpose of seeing the very splendid monuments of the town, and also as a convenient centre from which excursions may be made to the interesting ProvenÇal churches of early date, which abound in the vicinity.

Although Avignon was an important Roman colony, it has already been remarked how barren it is in Roman remains. After the fall of Rome, it passed successively through the hands of the Burgundians, the Franks, and the Visigoths: it was twice taken by the Saracens (730 and 737), and twice delivered by Charles Martel. Afterwards it became part of the Kingdom of Arles, and subsequently capital of the Marquisate of Provence.

In the twelfth century the community declared itself a free and independent city, and erected new walls and fortifications. Avignon ranged herself on the side of the Albigenses; and, as previously mentioned, she was besieged and taken, and in 1251 became subject to the Count of Provence.

In 1308 an event happened which had a very important bearing on the subsequent history of the city. Pope Clement V., finding his position in Italy insecure amidst the dreadful factions which rent that country, judged it prudent to retire to Avignon, where he would be under the protection (if also under the power) of the King of France. Avignon thereafter continued for more than a century the Holy See, and during that time seven Pontiffs and two Anti-Popes reigned in this new Rome.

As already narrated, Pope Clement VI. purchased the suzerainty of Avignon and the control of the Venaissin from Jeanne, the Queen of Naples and Countess of Provence, in 1348. Successive Popes used every exertion to render the place secure, and especially built themselves, on the Rocher-des-Doms, the immense Palace, which still forms the most prominent feature of the town. The walls and fortifications were begun in 1349, and finished in 1368.

When the Popes returned to Rome, Avignon was governed for them by a Legate, who was displaced in favour of the Republic in 1797.

The Palace of the Popes is well situated for defence. It stands on the top of an abrupt rock, round the base of which, on the north, sweeps the deep and rapid current of the Rhone. The rock is perpendicular all round the east and south sides, and is thus cut off from the town; while on the west, where alone the site is approachable, the access is steep, and is protected by the lofty and menacing walls of the Palace (see Plan, Fig. 49).

The Church of Notre Dame des Doms (A) occupies the summit of the rock, and is of much older date than the Pope’s Palace. The porch of this church (Fig. 47) is extremely interesting as an example of ProvenÇal architecture so strikingly ancient in character as to have been long held to be a classic structure of the Lower Empire. It exactly resembles a Roman design in its general idea, forming, as it were, a compartment of a classic edifice, with a fluted Corinthian column at each side, and an arched doorway or opening between. On the columns rests an entablature, and the whole is crowned with a triangular pediment. The Corinthian capitals, the cornices with egg and leaf enrichments, the mouldings, imposts, &c., are all strikingly Roman in character. The inner doorway to the church is similar. MÉrimÉe points out that the size of the stones used in this porch does not correspond with Roman work, being smaller than Roman large work and larger than Roman small work. Also that the stones of which the columns are composed are

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FIG. 47. CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME DES DOMS AND PALACE OF THE POPES, AVIGNON.

wrought with tails bonded into the wall (alternating right and left), which he regards as contrary to classic practice. The bull’s-eye of the tympanum is also not Roman, but might be an addition. It is probable that the sides of the porch were originally open.

The date of this porch has been the subject of much discussion; but it seems most likely that it belongs to the early part of the eleventh century. It was at that date that architecture began slowly to revive; and this is probably one of the first efforts. Designers would then naturally fall back on the classic forms, of which examples were abundant around them. There are many instances in which the early mediÆval architecture can be traced to Roman structures found in their vicinity. We have already met with one striking example at St Paul-trois-ChÂteaux; and it was previously shewn how the gates of Autun influenced the architecture of a large district, in which pilasters, copied from those of the Porte d’Arroux, are universally used instead of round shafts. We shall also presently see how the dome-topped campaniles of Provence are also copied from Roman monuments, such as that at St Remy; and how in almost all the churches throughout Provence Roman columns, caps, cornices, mouldings, and enrichments are freely imitated. But these imitations are generally incomplete, and invariably contain defects or omissions, which shew that they are imperfect copies, and not real Roman work. Such imperfections affect the details rather than the general style. In the instance before us, it is stated that the cornice of the antique part of the tower above the porch is copied exactly from that of the attic of the Arch at Orange.

The interior of Notre Dame des Doms is an example of an early ProvenÇal church, but not a very favourable one, as it has been frequently altered and added to. The choir is of 1671, and the lateral chapels are of the fourteenth century, while Renaissance balconies in marble have been added in front of the gallery, over the side aisles.

In the choir is a remarkable chair of the twelfth century, in white marble, which was the seat of the Pope; and the tomb of John XXII. (Fig. 48), in one of the side chapels, is a fine specimen of the imported Northern Gothic style.

The tower, partly destroyed in the fifteenth century, was repaired in 1430; and the colossal statue of the Virgin was added in 1859.

The walls of the interior were once decorated with frescoes by Simone Memmi, but they are now almost obliterated; and the interior is so dark, that the few fragments remaining cannot be seen.

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FIG. 48.

MONUMENT OF POPE JOHN XXII.

Originally the church consisted of a single nave, without aisles, vaulted with a pointed barrel-vault, strengthened with transverse ribs and internal buttresses, being, as above explained, one of the arrangements common in Provence. The east end terminated with an apse, the bay in front of which is vaulted in a remarkable manner. A dome is frequently introduced in this position; but in the present instance, owing to the width of the bay being small compared to the width of the church, a square space on which to raise the dome could not readily be obtained. To

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FIG. 49. PLAN OF THE PALACE OF THE POPES, AVIGNON, from Viollet-le-Duc’s Dictionnaire.

accomplish this, successive arches are thrown across between the transverse ribs, rising with the curve of the latter and advancing over one another, till the central space becomes a square, on which a lantern, with eight Roman-looking columns, is raised and supports an octagonal dome above.

In the twelfth century the rock, on the summit of which stands the Church of Notre Dame des Doms, was covered with habitations and gardens, which were dominated by the ancient castles of the PodestÀ and the Bishop. Pope Clement V., on his first arrival at Avignon, occupied the Convent of the Dominicans; and John XXII., in 1316, lived in the building which existed in his day where the Pope’s Palace now stands. In 1336 Benedict XII. demolished what his predecessors had erected, and rebuilt the northern part of the existing Palace (Plan, Fig. 49—from Viollet-le-Duc’s Dictionnaire), being the side next the Cathedral, on a grand scale, from plans by the architect Pierre Obreri. His works terminated at the “Tour de Trouillas,” or the great donjon (B) at the N.-E. angle, and is marked by another immense tower (B) at the west end of the range, called the “Tour de la Gache.”

The south face (E) of the northern courtyard, and the southern walls of enceinte were constructed under Pope Clement VI. It was also he who acquired the suzerainty of Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin from Queen Jeanne in 1347.

The southern front of the palace was completed by Pope Innocent VI., including the great Chapel, or Consistorial Hall (G), a building about 170 feet long by 50 feet wide, roofed with pointed and groined vaulting. The great tower (H) adjoining to the south contains the sacristy, &c. Urban V. levelled the space which forms the Cour d’honneur (D), excavating the platform out of the solid rock. Owing to the slope of the ground, this court is about one story lower than the older northern court.

The same pontiff further erected the east wing, and added the seventh tower, called the Tour des Anges. Gregory XI. left Avignon and returned to Rome in 1376.

Avignon was thus occupied by the Popes from 1316 to 1376, or sixty years, during which time there reigned six Popes. They were all Southern Frenchmen, a circumstance which probably had considerable influence on the style of the architecture, which is undoubtedly quite that of Provence, and has small affinity with the style then in use in Italy, notwithstanding that the name of the architect Obreri sounds somewhat Italian. The construction, mouldings, vaults, and defences, are all in the style of Southern French work, and do not recall Italian features. The only Italian details are the paintings on the vaults and ceilings, said to have been executed by Giotto and Simone Memmi. Of these there are unfortunately only a few fragments left. The vault of the great Consistorial Hall was completely painted, but the building having been cut up into several floors in order to convert it into barracks (in which occupation it still remains), the faded and damaged condition of the paintings can well be conceived.

The Anti-Popes Clement VII. and Benedict XIII. occupied Avignon from 1379 to 1403. The latter was besieged in the palace by General Boucicaut in 1398. The Pope fled, but the palace did not capitulate till 1411. The buildings suffered severely from fires which occurred in 1378 and 1413.

The principal entrance to the palace is on the west side, and opens from an esplanade which commands the surroundings, and was formerly divided into several baileys or courts, with walls, towers and gates. The entrance gateway was defended with two portcullises, with folding gates and double machicolations. It had originally an advanced work in front, which was replaced in the seventeenth century by a crenellated wall. The appearance of the building, whether it be regarded externally or from the courtyard, is grand and imposing from its vastness and height. The towers and walls are, even in their present crippled condition, most commanding from their magnitude, the former being about 150 feet in height, while the walls rise to about 100 feet. On entering the great courtyard (D), evidence presents itself of the difference in level between it and the older northern court (C), in the rugged foundation on which the south front of the latter stands, the rock having been cut down, as above mentioned, to the level of the lower court. The frowning machicolations of that side, which look somewhat out of place in a Cour d’honneur, are explained when we remember that under Pope Benedict XII. this formed the exterior of the south face of the palace, before the south courtyard was added by Clement VI. and Innocent VI.

The most striking feature of the architectural details of the palace is the machicolations of the parapet. These consist in long grooves opening between the inside of the parapet and the external face of the walls, the parapet being carried on pointed arches thrown between buttresses which project at intervals (see Fig. 47). This form of machicolation (which we have already observed at Cruas) is much used in the southern provinces, perhaps from the prevalence of such works in the churches, most of which were fortified, and where the buttresses which existed for other reasons, were found convenient, and were thus utilized. These long machicolations have the advantage of allowing beams, and other lengthy missiles to be thrown down on assailants; but the frequently recurring broad buttresses or wall spaces, which have no defence immediately over them, are a drawback.

In the North these long grooves are very rarely used; a continuous series of machicolations between bold corbels being the form almost invariably preferred. At Avignon the towers were crowned with the latter kind of defences, as the relics of the broken corbels still shew.

The Cour d’honneur communicates freely with every part of the structure. To the right, on entering, is observed the arcade which contains the great staircase leading in two flights to the principal apartments on the first floor. Two posterns open from this courtyard, and these are carefully masked in the re-entering angles by buttresses, and defended with a portcullis. A staircase also leads to the upper courtyard.

The most ancient part of the palace is the Tour de Trouillas, at the north-east angle, an immense mass which towers above all the other works and formed the Keep.

The Pope’s apartments in the time of Urban V. were on the first floor of the buildings surrounding the Cour d’honneur. From the landing of the great staircase, which gave access to the principal apartments, passages were carried round the building in the thickness of the wall next the courtyard. These were carefully constructed and finished with pointed and groined vaults. They communicated with the various rooms, and also with several staircases which connected the different floors, and led to the defences on the roof. The apartments of the south court were also joined to those of the north court by these passages. The great kitchen was situated on the first floor of the building next the keep. It has a high pyramidal vault, which gives it a mysterious look, and perhaps led to its being long regarded as the chamber of torture and hall of execution of the Inquisitors. The banqueting hall was in the north court, near the kitchen and the keep. The smaller tower (M) in the centre of the east flank (now called the Salle de la Justice) contains in two floors some admirable paintings of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, which are in a fair state of preservation.

The entire building is of the most massive masonry—the whole of the basement being vaulted and constructed so as to defy destruction.

Commencing with the great keep at the north-east angle, and proceeding round the palace by the west, south, and east, the towers occur in the following order:—north-east—Tour de Trouillas; north-west—Tour de la Gache, followed by the Tour de St Jean, Tour de St Laurent, Tour de la Cloche, Tour des Anges, Tour d’Estrapade.

One circumstance specially noticeable about the design of the palace of the Popes is the entire absence of effort after symmetry in the elevations, such as is generally aimed at in the case of the large palaces or halls of the late Gothic and Renaissance periods. Here the various blocks of building are simply placed where they are required, and the different levels and irregularities of the ground are made available in the most natural and convenient manner, with the result that the effect is delightfully varied and impressive from every point of view, and at every turning.[A]

The rock on the north side is almost perpendicular, but here also the access had a defence called the Tour St Martin, which is now removed. From this point slopes led down to the gate of the chÂtelet which protected the bridge over the Rhone.

The walls, with their gateways, which still encircle Avignon, were erected between 1348 and 1364 during the residence of the Popes in the city. These walls (Fig. 50.)) do not represent a very important defensive work, even for the time when erected; they are neither sufficiently high nor are the towers of suitable construction for a really strong enceinte. They are rather an outwork in front of the palace, which was itself a citadel of impregnable strength.

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FIG. 50. PORTION OF CITY WALL, AVIGNON. West side.

At Avignon, as in the South generally, and also in Italy the towers are square, and they are constructed with the side next the town left open, so that in case of being taken by an enemy they could not be held against the inhabitants. They are not built, as the towers on the walls of enceinte of the great castles were, of size and strength enough to stand an independent siege.

The large square towers occur at pretty wide intervals, and intermediate smaller turrets are occasionally introduced to strengthen the curtains between them. These are composed of two plain buttresses with a pointed arch thrown across between them near the parapet, behind which there is a long machicolation on the same principle as those of the Palace.

At the base of the wall, and between these buttresses, a bold slope or talus is introduced, with the double object of thickening the wall at a point where it might be attacked by sap, and also to intercept any stone balls or other projectiles thrown from the machicolation, and cause them to ricochet obliquely against “cats” or other engines brought up to assail the wall. The talus would of course be designed in every case of such a slope as might be best suited for defence, according to the nature of the lower part of the fortifications, whether a ditch or a rocky escarpment. The walls of Avignon were entirely surrounded with a wet ditch above 20 yards wide, and 15 feet deep below the crest of the counter-scarp. The ditch was supplied with water from the Rhone, the Sorgue, and branches of the Durance. Of the two last rivers the former joins the Rhone above and the latter below Avignon. The bottom of the ditch was paved to enable the sludge to be cleaned out. The ditches have now been completely filled up, and the spaces outside the walls converted into a public promenade.

The towers, as above remarked, are for the most part of the square form generally adopted in the South, as distinguished from the round form which was usually employed in the North. The latter was considered safer, from its not presenting, like the square towers, any flat surface unprotected by the adjoining curtains against which miners could operate in comparative safety.

The parapet is carried on very bold corbels of four and five courses in height, with pointed arches between them. The corbels at the angles being set diagonally, have a rather greater projection than those at right angles to the wall, and have therefore an additional course in the height. The arches adjoining the angles would naturally be wider than those on the faces, but to obviate this the corbels next the angle ones are slightly inclined towards them, so as to equalise the width of the openings. This is the general rule in all square towers of this description.

The gates of the town are simple arched passages passing through square towers, being a type of gateway of frequent occurrence in the South. They are not protected with flanking towers or angle turrets, such as are invariably employed for greater security in the North. The gate-towers were defended with chÂtelets on the outer side of the fosse. Of these, the “Porte St Lazare” on the north-east side of the town is the best preserved. This had a forework attached to the gateway which protected the drawbridge. The latter descended on a landing which formed a detached square barbican, fortified with a parapet and angle turrets, and surrounded with a ditch. From this outwork another drawbridge in one of the sides, and therefore at right angles to the main gateway, gave access to the exterior roadway. This gateway was destroyed by an inundation of the Durance in 1358, and was reconstructed in 1364 by Pierre Obreri, the architect of the Papal Palace.

The gateways of Provence, such as those of Orange and Marseilles, were usually similar in design to those of Avignon. At Carpentras and Aigues Mortes examples still exist of gateways pierced in square towers without flanking towers or turrets.

Pont St BÉnezet.—The two opposite banks of the Rhone were generally in ancient times in the hands of different superiors. Thus, in the fourteenth century, while the Comtat Venaissin on the east belonged to the Popes, the opposite side of the river formed part of the kingdom of France. In order to protect the different domains castles were erected at both ends of the bridge which connected them.

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FIG. 51. PONT ST BÉNEZET AND CHAPEL OF ST NICHOLAS, AVIGNON.

The bridge of St BÉnezet (Fig. 51), which united Provence with the west side of the Rhone opposite Avignon, is said to have been built by Petit BenÔit, a shepherd of the Vivarais, who believed himself inspired with a mission to carry out this great project. BenÔit became the chief of a society of “hospitaliers,” instituted in the twelfth century for the purpose of building bridges, establishing ferries, and assisting travellers. He had already constructed a bridge at Maupas, when in 1178 he instigated the great undertaking of bridging the Rhone opposite Avignon. This he began in 1178 and finished in 1188. The bridge was almost 1000 yards long, and the roadway is about 16 feet wide including the parapets. Like the Pont St Esprit it forms an obtuse angle against the stream, and the centre rests on a flat island in the middle of the river. There were 18 arches in all, including those on the island. The piers are of a long low form, and their sharp beaks project a considerable way up and down the river beyond the bridge, giving the whole, as seen from the heights of the Rocher des Doms, very much the appearance of a bridge of boats. The alternate piers seem to have had recesses for allowing vehicles to pass, and all had archways above the level of the beaks to allow the passage of the flood waters of the Rhone which are sometimes excessive. The arches are slightly elliptical, or egg-shaped, which renders them stronger at the apex than the semicircle would be. They are constructed with four rings of arch stones in the width of the bridge, formed with carefully cut voussoirs—each ring being separate from, but placed close alongside of, the others. This idea was probably derived from the system adopted in the Roman Pont du Gard (as above explained), which is not far distant.

The bridge was cut for defensive purposes in 1395, during the siege of Avignon. It was probably thereafter imperfectly repaired, and in 1602 three of the arches fell; in 1633 two other arches gave way, and in 1670 two more. It is now reduced to the three arches adjoining the chÂtelet on the side next the town.

On the pier nearest the land still stands a picturesque chapel dedicated to St Nicholas (Fig. 51). The floor of this chapel being on the level of the top of the pier was considerably below that of the roadway of the bridge; but the building was so contrived that passengers on the bridge could see down through an arcade into the interior. Access to the chapel was provided by steps corbelled out on one side of the bridge. At a later period the structure has been raised and modernised.

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FIG. 52. TOWER OF VILLENEUVE.

The passage of the bridge was defended on the right bank by the Tower of Villeneuve, (Fig. 52), erected in 1307 by Philippe le Bel, under his architect Rodolphe de Meruel.

Like most of the work of this period, the walls are faced with stones square-dressed, but with the surface left rough. The tower is finished with the usual bold corbelling, machicolations, and angle bartizans, and is surmounted by a lofty watch-turret. It will be observed that the style of this French tower is that of the North, and differs materially from the towers of Avignon above described.

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FIG. 53. ORATORY IN CASTLE OF ST ANDRÉ.

In order more completely to protect this part of his domains, Philip constructed, in the end of the thirteenth century, the important fortress of St AndrÉ, immediately opposite Avignon, and close to the small town of Villeneuve-lez-Avignon. This citadel enclosed a large space occupying the summit of a rocky hill, and comprised numerous buildings, including a monastery. The extent of the fortress may be conceived, when it is noticed that enclosed within the walls, in different parts of the large space of vacant ground, may still be seen a convent, with its gardens, and a small town. A portion of the more ancient buildings still survives in the form of a small oratory (Fig. 53) of the twelfth century, with polygonal apse, having a circular arcade, and a cornice containing modillions after the classic manner. This great castle had but one gate, which opened to the southwards, on the only accessible side of the site. That gateway (Fig. 54) is a splendid specimen of military architecture, having a vaulted archway 13 feet in width, with finely moulded jambs and arches (Fig. 56). On either side is a large round tower, crowned with a machicolated parapet (Fig. 55). The vaulted passage through the gatehouse was defended at each end with a portcullis and folding gates. The apartments in the towers with round fronts, are large and finely vaulted with pointed groins, and the floors are all paved. The platform on the top is also of pavement resting on the vault below. The whole building is thus put out of danger from fire.

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FIG. 54. CASTLE OF ST ANDRÉ, VILLENEUVE-LEZ-AVIGNON.

Plan of Entrance Gateway.

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FIG. 55. CASTLE OF ST ANDRÉ, VILLENEUVE-LEZ-AVIGNON. Exterior of Gateway.

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FIG. 56. CASTLE OF ST ANDRÉ. Interior of Gateway.

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FIG. 57. CASTLE OF ST ANDRÉ. Fireplace in Gatehouse.

Over the central gateway, and above the towers, rises a large square turret, which was also vaulted and flagged on the top, and provided with a machicolated parapet. This platform, as well as those over the towers, were thus well adapted to receive the large catapults, mangonels, and other military engines in use in the fourteenth century. The diagonal walls which fill up the angles next the walls of enceinte contained staircases, &c., and are set at an angle so as to present a front against assailants approaching from the flanks. The round wells of the staircases were continued above the roof with round enclosures, which were visible above the parapet in the form of crenellated turrets.

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FIG. 58. CASTLE OF ST ANDRÉ. Walls of Enceinte.

The rooms in the gatehouse are well finished in ashlar work, and have 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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).

Almost the only defensive building in fair preservation

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

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.

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

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.

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.

A few miles from Tarascon, on the road to Arles, the ancient church of St Gabriel rises amidst the ruins of the still more ancient Roman city of Ernaginum. A large number of tombs, similar to those we shall presently meet with at the Alyscamps near Arles, but of the plainest form, are here found along with fragments of inscriptions, statues, and other antique relics. The church of St Gabriel, like so many others in Provence, comprises in its design a mixture of classic and Romanesque features. The west front (Fig. 73) is one of the finest of its kind. The entrance doorway, with its fluted column, its imitated Corinthian capitals, and high pitched pediment full of classic enrichments, might easily pass for a structure of the Lower Empire. The bas-reliefs represent the creation and the visit of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin,—the personages being identified by their names inscribed beside them. The upper part of the front exhibits a great archivolt springing from imposts on each side of the portal, above which is a straight cornice supporting a second pointed archivolt. The latter contains a small circular window richly ornamented with classic leaves and other enrichments, and having the symbols of the four evangelists placed around it. The church has a single nave, covered with a pointed tunnel vault. The buttresses are more pronounced than usual, which may indicate a transition towards the later ProvenÇal style, and seem to point to the date of the building being late in the twelfth century, notwithstanding its very classic features.

A short journey now brings us to Arles, the ancient capital of the province, and one of the chief architectural centres of our district, both as regards classic and mediÆval art.

The principal mediÆval edifice of Arles is the church of St Trophime, the patron saint. It is a large and important structure, containing specimens of all the peculiarities of ProvenÇal architecture on a complete and extensive scale. The nave of the church was erected in the twelfth century, and is quite distinct in character from the beautiful western porch and the splendid cloisters which belong to the older and more ornate period of ProvenÇal architecture. The choir and apse were rebuilt in 1430 in the Northern style. The nave (Fig. 74), like that of all the Southern churches of the same age is very simple internally. This is the first fine example we have met with of the second period of ProvenÇal architecture—in which the plain and rigid Cistertian style superseded the earlier and richer architecture of which we have observed so many remarkable specimens. Thus the piers (Fig. 74) are merely square blocks of masonry, with flat projections or pilasters on each face, carried up to receive the small mouldings or imposts from which spring the wall arches on each side of the nave (between it and the side aisles), and the transverse arches, which strengthen the pointed barrel vault of the central nave. The latter consist of two rings, the inner arch springing from the main pier, and the side orders from fluted classic-looking columns introduced in the angles of the main piers to receive them. The side aisles are very narrow and lofty, and are roofed with one half of a pointed vault thrown as an abutment against the upper part of the nave wall. The nave windows are flanked by twisted columns with Romanesque caps. The pointed arches, resting on four strong piers, which carry the central tower, are seen at the crossing of the church, with a lofty plain wall forming the lower part of the tower, resting upon them. This partially cuts off the view of the choir from the nave, and indicates that the vault of the original church was much lower than that of the existing nave, the roof of which is nearly twice the height of the arches of the crossing. The latter, forming the support of the tower, could not be removed when the nave was rebuilt and enlarged. The tower (Fig. 11) rises high above the roof

of the church. It extends to three full storys and an attic crowned with a pointed roof having a very flat slope. The two lower storys have the arcaded Romanesque ornament so common in Lombardy and Germany, while the upper story shews three Corinthian pilasters on each side. The tower is heavy, but recalls the general effect of the Italian campanile, and corresponds in style with the earlier work of the portal and cloisters.

The elaborate and beautiful western portal (Fig. 75) is fortunately well preserved. It has the appearance of having been added in front of the plainer wall of the nave, and is thus generally stated to be of more recent construction than the nave, but we believe that the portal is much more likely to be part of an older building, which has been preserved in the re-construction of the nave. Portals being generally highly ornamental features, were frequently so preserved. We have met with good examples of this at Notre Dame des Doms and at Tarascon, and others will occur as we proceed. The central arch is almost insensibly pointed; but whether intentionally or accidentally it is difficult to say,—most likely the latter, from its being so indistinct. This porch is probably an imitation on a small scale of the much grander one of St Gilles (to be referred to immediately). The engaged pillars, with their carved caps and bases so strongly akin both to classic and Romanesque work, stand on a high stylobate approached by a wide flight of steps. The space between the pillars is formed into a series of niches, bordered on each side with an enriched pilaster and filled with the figure of an apostle or an early saint. The sculpture of these figures, although Roman in general character, shews a leaning towards Byzantine design, especially in the rich carving of the jewels and ornaments on the dresses. The tympanum over the central doorway, which is divided into two openings with a central shaft, contains the figure of Christ in glory surrounded with the emblems of the four evangelists, and in the soffit of the arch are two tiers of half length adoring angels. On the lintel are sculptured the twelve apostles seated; while the frieze on the right hand of Christ contains the just, clothed and received by Abraham, and that on the left the unjust, represented as naked and being dragged by a demon with a chain backwards through flames. The leaf, egg, and other enrichments are quite classic, while the modillions supporting the cornice of the gablet over the porch have the usual Romanesque character. This porch strikes one at a glance as being of a totally different style from the body of the church. The latter belongs, as already mentioned, to the reformed Cistertian style of the twelfth century, while the former is in the older and more florid ProvenÇal style of Romanesque, although probably earlier in the same century.

But the most delightful structure connected with this very interesting church is the cloisters. The oldest portions of these belong to the commencement of the twelfth century. The four arcades enclosing the cloister garth are complete. That adjoining the church wall (the north side) is the oldest, while the eastern side (represented in the sketch Fig. 76) is not much later in date. The other two sides are Gothic restorations of the thirteenth century.

The two first galleries are splendid specimens of the florid style of ProvenÇal art. They are constructed with piers of considerable size and solidity, which occur at the angles and at regular intervals, the intermediate spaces being filled with round arches resting on coupled columns.

The roof is covered with a barrel vault, built with carefully wrought arch stones, and strengthened with boldly moulded transverse ribs thrown between the solid piers and consoles on the inner wall. The latter and the string course between them are about two feet higher than the cornice on the side of the arcade from which the vault springs, thus giving an awkward shape to the transverse ribs. This arrangement probably arose from the original construction of the roof, which was composed of tiles laid on the outside of the vault, and formed a “lean-to” against the church, like that of the cloisters

of Mont-Majour, to be treated of presently. In the thirteenth century, when the two other sides of the cloister were restored, the outer wall was raised so as to convert the sloping roof into a level promenade, furnished with stone seats along the parapet.

The angle piers are so designed as to receive the springing of three transverse ribs—one at right angles across each of the adjoining galleries, and one diagonally under the line of the junction of the two barrel vaults. The intermediate piers are strengthened with an external buttress in the shape of a square classic-looking pilaster, fluted and provided with a capital imitated from the Corinthian. The piers are all adorned with sculptured figures of large size. Those in the original work are well preserved, having been cut in the solid, while the statues in the two Gothic arcades, which were executed in separate stones, have been removed and destroyed. The coupled columns and caps are all executed in grey marble, and the latter are amongst the finest examples of the “storied” carving of the period, every cap containing a subject from sacred history. The wall of the church next the north cloister contains a beautiful Romanesque arcade, with fluted pilasters (Fig. 76.))

The Gothic parts of the cloister have piers alternating with coupled columns, and the details have evidently (as sometimes occurs) been executed so as to correspond in design with the older work. Of the bas-reliefs on the piers the best are the most ancient. The same general remarks on the style apply here as in the case of the porch; there being a great mixture of classic and Romanesque influence in both.

In this great structure we thus find an epitome of ProvenÇal art. The cloisters and porch, representing the richly decorated ProvenÇal form of Romanesque; the nave, the plain reformed style of the Cistertians; while the choir exhibits the weak sort of Northern Gothic imported in the fifteenth century, which is entirely without interest beside the more impressive examples of genuine ProvenÇal architecture. It will be observed that in the main structural features the pointed arch is employed, while in the portal, cloisters and windows the round arch is used.

At the “Alyscamps,” the famous cemetery of Arles (described in Part IV.), several remains of the numerous churches and chapels formerly connected with it may still be seen. The church of St Honorat is the most important. It is of very ancient foundation, but has been frequently repaired and restored. The west doorway, with its zigzag and other enrichments, is evidently of the twelfth century. The tower or “clocher” (Fig. 77) also appears to be of that date, and bears the usual character of ProvenÇal Romanesque. The dome which covers it is, however, a somewhat unusual feature.

A few other ancient churches are to be seen at Arles, but they are all much decayed or altered.

The churches of Notre Dame la Majeure and Ste Magdeleine, are very ancient foundations, but there is little of the old work left. St CÉsaire is also ancient, but is converted into private houses, and there are only scraps of the original structure remaining.

After being united to France, and thus delivered from the incessant struggles maintained in earlier times between the Bishops, the PodestÀs and the counts of Provence, Arles exhibited numerous signs of growing prosperity. The union with an established power seems to have imparted a considerable impulse to the prosperity of Provence, which began to revive under a settled government; and Arles, as the chief town, naturally benefited greatly from the improvement. Indications of this amelioration are met with at every turn in the narrow streets, which abound in fine examples of Renaissance work. The early picturesque style of French Renaissance, so usual in Anjou and on the banks of the Loire, is of frequent occurrence here. Of the above tendency Fig. 78 may be taken as an example, shewing by the striking arrangement of the staircase in the courtyard, how picturesque this style may be made when suitably and naturally treated. We may also observe in the midst of the abundant ruins of the ancient Roman architecture of this city, numerous palaces in the classic style of the sixteenth century; the revival of which the ancient works had lived to witness, and probably had also helped to forward with suggestions for their design.

The buildings of this period in Arles are particularly rich in tabernacles or niches at the corners of the streets, filled with the image of a saint, before which hangs a lamp. These are not uncommon in most continental towns, but here some of them are very finely designed and add much to the generally quaint and striking character of the houses.

Of the Renaissance buildings of Arles the HÔtel de Ville is worthy of observation. The Tour de l’Horloge (1550), is a good specimen, and the vaulting and general effect of the pillared hall and staircase are fine (1675).

About three miles from Arles stand the ruins of the great monastic establishment of Mont-majour, which comprise a most interesting series of structures, illustrative of ProvenÇal architecture in all its stages, from the primitive rock-hewn hermitage of St Trophime to the fully developed church of the Cistertian style, concluding with a rich and luxurious edifice of the time of the Renaissance.

FIG. 79. PLAN OF HERMITAGE OF ST CESAIRE, MONT-MAJOUR.

This monastery is situated on a rocky hill which rises out of the flat plain of the Rhone, and which, in Roman times, was undoubtedly an island surrounded by the waters of the river. Near the base of the south-east side of the rock, a cave is said to have formed the hermitage of St Trophime, the patron saint of Arles (Fig. 79). To preserve and consecrate this hermitage it was converted into a chapel, and enclosed with an arcade (the inner one) cut in the rock. To this again at a later time an outer wall has been added so as to form a chapel, dedicated to St Peter, on the exterior of the cave. Beyond the east end of the chapel there are three additional rude chambers hollowed out of rock. One of these, which is nearly filled with a great stone seat, is called the confessional of St Trophime. At the west end there is a space forming a kind of entrance porch or narthex.

The ancient chapel or hermitage is entirely excavated in the rock, and has a seat left along the inner side, which being continued round the east end forms a step up to the choir. This chapel may be of a very early date, but it is impossible to fix its age from the total absence of architectural features.

The outer chapel (Fig. 80) is not of so great antiquity, but the ornament of the caps and form of the tunnel vault belong to the earliest period of the ProvenÇal style—probably the ninth or tenth century. The exterior is seen at the bottom of Fig. 85.

The monastery was erected on the upper part of the rock, and was surrounded like a feudal castle with a fortified wall of enceinte. It was also protected by a keep or citadel, such as frequently occurs in these Southern monasteries, exposed as they were to attack on all hands.

The church of the monastery of Mont-Majour is an example of the severe style of the twelfth century, and likewise of the aisle-less plan of the Southern provinces. This church was founded in 1016, and was conceived on a very large scale, but little seems to have been done during the following hundred years, the most of the work being in the style of the twelfth century. It consists of an upper church and a lower church or very large crypt. The latter extends under a large part of the space occupied by the upper church, and, like it, is in the form of a Latin cross. The nave of the church is very short, owing to the works having been stopped for want of funds to complete it on the extensive scale on which it was originally projected. The crypt is all vaulted with circular arches, and is extremely dark, the only light admitted being what can penetrate into it from the small windows in the apse.

The arrangement of the choir of the crypt is peculiar. The altar stands in the centre, and round it runs a wall with five wide arches opening on a gallery which follows round the apse, and from which chapels radiate in the various faces of the octagon. The chief altar is thus visible from almost any part of the choir.

The upper church forms one great hall with a transept and apse, and is roofed with pointed tunnel vaults strengthened with transverse ribs, but is entirely without ornament.

It has, however, an effect of simple grandeur and spaciousness owing to its size; but from the shortness of the nave, there is a want of due proportion in the various parts. The choir, as is usual in Cistertian churches of this date, is very short, the apse beginning almost at the transept.

The whole building is solidly constructed with good ashlar work. The west doorway is round arched, and is surmounted with a large pointed window from which the principal light in the church is obtained. The exterior is as unornamental as the interior. The east end (Fig. 81) is finished with a polygonal apse, the windows of which in the upper church are simple round arches springing from shafts recessed in the jambs. The exterior of the apse of the crypt is peculiar, owing to the form of the segmental depressed arches, enclosing deep recesses, at the inner end of which are the small windows of the crypt. The depressed form of arch was probably adopted owing to the want of height and the desire to admit as much light as possible. The same segmental form is also employed in the cloister arcades. The apse has been heightened at a late period and the interior made circular. An enriched Gothic chapel has been added to the north transept in the fourteenth century, and extensive Gothic buildings, now in a state of total ruin (see Figs. 81, 82) have been extended to the south of the church.

The Abbey of Mont-Majour contains a cloister (Fig. 82) with the same style of ornament and sculpture, but much simpler in design than that of St Trophime. The cloister walk is covered with a plain barrel vault constructed with carefully wrought stones, strengthened with transverse ribs resting on “storied” consoles built into the wall. The arcade is formed with segmental arches springing from solid piers, and fluted pillars, with the simplest cornice. Each large arch is filled in with three small round ones, springing from light shafts with elaborately carved caps. The buttresses are fluted like those of St Trophime. The original lean-to roof, covered with stone flags and provided with large rude gargoyles and corbels, is here preserved, and shews what that at Arles was like when first constructed. The cloister here, as at St Trophime, is in the original ProvenÇal style, and is probably a relic of an older series of structures which existed before the present church was erected in the second ProvenÇal style of the twelfth century.

A remarkable specimen of a plan more common in the East than the West occurs in the chapel of Ste Croix (Fig. 83), which seems to have been the mortuary chapel of the monks. The main building consists of four apses arranged in the form of a Greek cross, and crowned over the

crossing with a square dome. This is preceded by a square porch with simple barrel vault, separated by a door from the chapel. The whole aspect (Fig. 84) and arrangements of the edifice have a strange and foreign appearance, and recall the architecture of the East. At the same time the high triangular pediments of the exterior, and the cornices, egg mouldings, modillions, and the simple circular arch of the doorway, are all features characteristic of the late Empire; while the ornamental cresting and other details are illustrative of the Eastern character impressed on Roman work at Byzantium, and thence transported into Western Europe. In the porch is an inscription attributing the foundation to Charlemagne, but MÉrimÉe clearly proves that this is a forgery, and that the date of the building is 1019. The chapel is only lighted with three small windows, which open upon a little enclosure where numerous shallow graves have been excavated in the rock. A door in the south apse also opens into this graveyard, so that the bodies might be carried into it from the chapel after the service had been performed. Several similar graves are cut in the rock in front of the porch. These excavations are all very

small, some no more than 3 feet long, and do not appear ever to have been occupied. MÉrimÉe is of opinion that in order to give their shrine as much appearance of antiquity and sanctity as possible, and especially to enable it to compete with the very successful cemetery of the Alyscamps at Arles, the monks had not only put up the fabricated inscription above referred to, but had also caused these trenches to be cut in the rock to represent the graves of martyrs.

We have already seen that this monastery was fortified and surrounded with walls. But it was chiefly strengthened with a great donjon, such as the abbots, who were also great feudal lords, frequently constructed for their own security, and that of the monks and their treasures, in case of extremity. This keep (Fig. 85) was erected in 1369 by Pons de l’Orme. It is very substantially built with square-dressed stones, the surface being left rough or bossy, as was the custom at that time. The building (Fig. 86) is a simple parallelogram, 48 feet by 32 feet, with a slight projection at one angle to contain the staircase. The doorway gives direct access to the ground floor, which is vaulted with a pointed tunnel vault, ornamented with ribs springing from corbels (see section). A cellar occupies part of a lower story, which also contains a well. The vault over the ground floor may possibly have formed a separate dark loft or store, for storage of provisions, &c. The lower portion of this floor has one window only. The hall, or chief living room, was on the first floor. It is provided with fire-places and cupboards, and is lighted by two windows on one side, furnished with stone seats. The height of the tower from the basement to the parapet is about 80 feet, and the top forms a platform supported on a pointed arch. The space between the lower and upper vaults was divided into three floors, with wooden beams and joisting. The corbels for these still remain, but all the woodwork is destroyed. The platform on the top is surrounded with a parapet supported on bold corbels. At the angles the parapet is rounded off, so as to give the effect of projecting angle bartizans.

From the corbels seen on the exterior of the south side of the tower, at the first floor level, it seems probable that some kind of wooden platform was constructed between the keep and the outer wall, from which the passage between them, which formed a principal access to the abbey, might be vigorously defended. One cannot help being struck with the peculiarly military aspect of the tower, and its strange proximity to the more sacred structures of the abbey.

The ruins of some Gothic erections and of the sumptuous edifice, begun by the Benedictine monks of the eighteenth century, but interrupted by the breaking out of the Revolution, are visible in Fig. 81.

A short run by rail westward from Arles takes to the ancient town and abbey church of St Gilles. This church, which is unfortunately but a fragment, possesses the finest portal in Provence, in the same style as that of St Trophime at Arles. The town stands on the branch of the Rhone called Le Petit-RhÔne, which bounds the delta on the west. It bore originally the name of Vallis Flaviana, and is supposed to stand near the site of an ancient Roman city. An abbey was founded here by St Ægidius (or St Gilles) in the sixth century, around which the town gradually clustered.

St Gilles was the chief priory of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, and became a place of such importance that the Count of Toulouse took one of his titles from it, being also called the Count of St Gilles. It was here that Raymond VI., Count of Toulouse, in 1209, did penance for the murder of the Papal legate, Pierre de Castelnau, and for the part he took on the side of the Albigenses.

The church of St Gilles was designed on a grand scale, befitting the condition of the place at the time, but seems never to have been completed, the works having been interrupted and destroyed during the crusades of the Northern Franks against the Albigenses of the South. These wars formed a sort of sequel to, or continuation of the invasions of the barbarians. The South of Gaul, having preserved much of its Roman civilisation and municipal institutions, had become sooner settled, and had more quickly revived from anarchy than the North. This led to an independent intellectual and religious development, which did not conform to the ideas of religious unity then prevalent. Crusades against the Infidels in Syria and Africa had now become somewhat stale and unprofitable; but a crusade against the rich provinces of the South had great attractions, and was heartily supported by the restless and unsettled people of the North. Hence arose (as already pointed out) the long and cruel war in Aquitaine and Languedoc—the Crusaders being led by Simon de Montfort, and the people of the South by the Count of Toulouse.

In these disastrous and bloody campaigns the whole country suffered terribly. The towns were besieged and sacked, and the buildings destroyed. Amongst others, St Gilles dates its decline from the devastation then inflicted on it, and from which it never recovered.

The following inscription, said to be copied from an older one now lost, occurs on the wall near where the ancient cloister stood:—“Anno Domini, 1116, hoc templum Sancti Egidii Ædificare cepit mense Aprili feria 2^A in Octava Paschae.”

The church of St Gilles was thus begun in 1116 by Alphonse Jourdain, son of Raymond IV. of Toulouse. There still remains a portion of a subterranean church, which formed the substructure of the intended great building above, and which dates from the first half of the twelfth century. It is well lighted, and divided into two with a row of columns supporting two low cross vaults, ornamented with dog-tooth enrichments.

In the midst of the outline of the greater works, which can still be traced, rises the existing small church, which has all the appearance of a temporary erection. It is in a late style and of small importance architecturally, but it marks the decline of the wealth and prosperity of the town from its state at the time when the great church was founded.

The really great and valuable work, however, at St Gilles is the splendid triple portal (Fig. 87), which is by far the largest and richest example of ProvenÇal decoration. Every part of the surface is covered with work, either sculptured with figures or enriched with ornament, and although the remainder of the building

is incomplete, every detail of the portal is finished in the minutest manner. At the top of a wide flight of steps rises an elevation consisting of six pillars (five plain and one fluted) with capitals closely imitated from the Corinthian model. The bases are of unequal height, shewing that the shafts have been possibly borrowed from an ancient source. The columns sustain an architrave, frieze, and cornice, which, however, are interrupted by the round arches of the three doorways. The arches of the two side entrances rest on the two end pillars, while that of the central doorway, which is wide and is divided into two openings by a central pilaster, springs from two smaller columns set upon pedestals, and also provided with Corinthian caps. On the bases of the columns of the lateral doors (Fig. 88) bas-reliefs represent David as shepherd and conqueror of Goliath. The shafts supporting the lintels of the doors rest, as was generally the case in Romanesque designs, on lions. The abbot, sitting in the gate to render justice, was placed between these lions; hence Charters given by him are sometimes dated “inter leones.”

A stylobate of the height of the pedestals is continued along behind the principal columns, on which rests a series of pilasters dividing the background into recesses or niches containing large statues of the apostles. The figures are executed with some freedom after the Roman manner, and have not such a mediÆval aspect as those of Arles. There is, however, evidence of Byzantine influence in the thin folds of the drapery, and the jewels and embroidered ornaments carved upon the dresses. The pedestals, architrave, cornice, and arch mouldings are enriched with Roman leaf and egg and bead ornaments, mixed with fanciful Romanesque carvings of heads of animals &c., in the modillions. The frieze is covered with sculptures in bas-relief of Scripture subjects. The central tympanum contains the figure of Christ in glory surrounded by the emblems of the four Evangelists—that of the north doorway the Virgin and Child in the centre, with the adoration of the Magi on one side, and the annunciation of the birth of Christ to the shepherds on the other. In the south doorway is represented the crucifixion. This portal was probably completed before the breaking out of the Albigensian conflict, about 1150.

The portals of St Gilles and Arles are the most splendid productions of ProvenÇal art. They stand almost alone as portals amongst the Romanesque work of the period, which has given rise to the impression that they are importations from a distance rather than a natural sequence from simpler preceding forms out of which they might have grown.

It has been above pointed out that in Syria many churches were built in the early centuries of the Christian era in which the Greco-Roman style was perpetuated and received new developments. Many of these churches exist between Antioch and Aleppo, in which the general design and details of mouldings are very similar to those of the ProvenÇal portals, the only difference being that in the Syrian examples there are no statues, as all such images were forbidden in the East. That country was taken by the Crusaders in 1098, and remained, as the kingdom of Antioch, under Western government till 1268. The seaports of Provence being the natural centres of communication between the Frank kingdoms of the East and West, it seemed natural that some new and foreign ideas should be imported there. Hence it is maintained by some that Syrian models had considerable influence on the architecture of Provence, and that it is to that connection that much of the art expressed in the portals of St Gilles and Arles is due. There is, however, really no necessity to go so far afield for the models on which ProvenÇal art in general, and these portals in particular, were based. We have had several striking opportunities of observing how closely the Roman examples were followed in ProvenÇal architecture; while innumerable instances of the Romanesque spirit which pervaded it before and during the twelfth century, might be adduced from the many beautiful cloisters (similar in style to those of St Trophime and Mont-majour) which abound all over the South of France. These have been preserved, while the churches have in many cases been enlarged and reconstructed in the later and plainer ProvenÇal style. One of the most prominent elements in the older style is the figure sculpture, and there can be no question but that the idea of the statues was derived from the remains of ancient art so plentifully scattered throughout the country. Statues being entirely prohibited by the Eastern iconoclasts, that element can have had no connection with the East, although the treatment of the ornament may be to some extent influenced by Byzantine feeling.

The trade between the Levant and the West of the Mediterranean was considerable, and included all kinds of artistic articles, such as furniture, ornamental boxes, dypticks, wooden cases for manuscripts, and carved ivory and goldsmith’s work. These were all covered with exquisite carvings, which, no doubt, served as models to the Western nations, and from which they acquired a taste for the special kind of sculpture known as Byzantine.

It is from the above sources that the complete and elaborate ProvenÇal art displayed in the portals of St Trophime and St Gilles sprang. Viollet-le-Duc remarks of it that it is rich and striking, but gives the idea of an art either fixed by traditional maxims or in its decadence. He states further, that it only succeeded in producing a curious mixture of diverse imitations of other styles. The originality and vigour of the Northern art was entirely awanting. The former style was satisfied with the imitation of works already done, while the latter borrowed from anterior art only the general idea, and created for itself a new development. As already pointed out, the presence of the Roman remains acted on ProvenÇal architecture both favourably and prejudicially; in the first place, by stimulating it into a kind of early classic revival, and in the second place, by thus preventing the free and healthy development of a natural and untramelled style, such as took place in the North. But, so far as the Romanesque style is concerned, that of Provence is probably quite as interesting and instructive as any other. The connection with the art of Rome is continued almost without a break, while the conversion of “Roman” into “Romanesque” is carried out with a refinement and completeness which is not to be found elsewhere, and to which the later Northern styles are considerably indebted, especially in the matter of sculpture.

St Gilles is the most convenient point from which to visit the solitary and now desolate town of Les Saintes Maries. Situated near the mouth of the Petit-RhÔne it was formerly a place of some distinction. Here landed, according to tradition, corroborated by the investigations of LenthÉric, Mary Jacobi, sister of the Blessed Virgin, Mary Salome, Mother of the Apostles James (the Greater) and John, their servant Sarah, Lazarus, Martha, Mary Magdalene, and St Maximin (who had received his sight by the word of Christ), having all been driven from Jerusalem by persecution. Mary Jacobi and Mary Salome remained here, and were here buried, whence the name and fame of the town and the crowds of pilgrims who at one time frequented it.

The church (Fig. 89) is a very remarkable one. It was built in the twelfth century on the site of one destroyed by the Saracens, and consists of the usual single nave, having seven bays in its length, roofed with a pointed barrel vault, and finished with an eastern apse. Externally the whole building is surmounted with a crenellated and machicolated parapet, and presents the appearance of a strong fortification, with a keep tower rising above the eastern end. The latter includes the apse, which comprises three chapels, one over the other. The lowest, or crypt, contains the tomb of Sarah; the middle apse forms the choir of the church; while above this there rises a third chapel in the tower above the roof, containing the relics of the “Saintes Maries.” Rudely sculptured lions adorn the south entrance door, and in the nave there is a well, to supply water to the congregation, who would likewise form the garrison in case of siege. This remarkable structure may be regarded as a typical example of the defensive style so much practised in the South-West of France.

Marseilles.—Few relics are preserved in this ancient city of its Roman or mediÆval structures; of the latter the most remarkable is the church of St Victor. We have here an instance of the partial adoption of the Gothic style in the South, and an attempt to combine Gothic details with Southern structural features. This curious church, which stands near the ancient port, is all that remains of the once extensive buildings of the famous monastery founded in the fifth century by St Cassien. Some portions of the primitive masonry are still to be seen in

the crypt. The buildings were several times destroyed by the Saracens, but they were finally rebuilt in their existing form about the year 1350 by Pope Urban V. (formerly abbot of this monastery), who also caused to be erected the great square towers and crenellated parapets which give the building externally the appearance of a fortress (Fig. 90). Some relics of the early Romanesque work are still visible in the entrance porch. The general design of the interior (Fig. 91) is that of a basilica, with central nave and side aisles, the former roofed with a pointed tunnel vault strengthened with transverse ribs, and originally without a clerestory, although openings have more recently been cut in the vault. These general dispositions are common in ProvenÇal architecture. But the details of the nave piers, with their numerous small shafts and foliated caps and bases are all borrowed from the Gothic of the North; while the tomb erected in the west-most bay of the south aisle (Fig. 92) is a completely Northern design.

The fortification of the exterior is a feature of almost universal occurrence in the churches of the South, as has been already noticed, and we shall meet with other instances. This peculiar characteristic probably dates from the time of the crusades against the Albigenses in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when the inhabitants were glad to adopt every means in their power to obtain protection, and had to turn even their churches, which were not sacred in the eyes of their assailants, into fortresses for their defence.

The frequent attacks of the Saracens may also have had some influence in producing this style of exterior in the churches near the sea-coast.

Aix-en-Provence, which is easily reached from Marseilles by a delightful railway route through the mountains, retains few marks of its distinction as the first settlement of the Romans in Gaul. A few Roman walls and pillars from the temple of Apollo, together with some fragments in the Museum, are all that Aix can shew of the original AquÆ SextiÆ. But the ancient church of St Sauveur and its octagonal baptistery exhibit the Roman influence, extending down to a comparatively late date. The baptistery is of the sixth century, but the upper portion has been restored in the style of the eighteenth century, and has thus completely lost its proper character. It is octagonal on plan, with eight monolithic granite columns taken from the ancient temple of Apollo set in the angles.

The church of St Sauveur was erected in 1103, and is supposed to have been built on part of the cella of the temple of Apollo. It now forms the south aisle of the enlarged cathedral erected in the fifteenth century. But

this old church (according to MÉrimÉe) is itself a restoration of a still more ancient building, of which some remains are yet preserved in the western portal (Fig. 93), the architecture of which strongly recalls that of Notre Dame des Doms at Avignon. Here we have the same fluted Corinthian columns and cornice with Roman enrichments, and arched opening between. The small engaged columns with twisted and fluted shafts and straight arched lintel are, however, restorations of the twelfth century. To that date also belongs the interior (Fig. 94), with its pointed tunnel vault strengthened at intervals with transverse arches. The arches which carry the dome over the original central compartment are round. The dome itself is octagonal, the angles being filled with arched pendentives. The piers are simple pilasters, with small classic-like pillars introduced in the angles near the top, to carry the springing of the transverse arches. This was a common arrangement in ProvenÇal churches, as, for instance, at St Trophime, Arles. The cloister of St Sauveur (Fig. 95) is a fine specimen of the twelfth century erections of that description, so numerous in this part of France. It is built in white marble, and enriched with a great variety of the Romanesque or Lombardic sculpture which distinguished the work of the Northern races. The shafts are particularly remarkable from the great variety of their forms and ornament. Some are octagonal, while others are twisted and fluted, and some are actually knotted together, and nearly all are covered with carved ornamentation. In these and similar works we have very palpable examples of the innovations on the older traditional forms for which the twelfth century is so much noted. Of the later church, the carved Gothic west doors (executed 1503), containing figures of theological virtues, prophets, &c., mingled with Gothic canopies and traceries, are worthy of careful inspection.

In his exhaustive work, entitled “Les Villes Mortes du Golfe de Lyon,” Mons. C. LenthÉric gives a full and interesting account of the ancient towns of Southern Gaul between the Rhone and the Pyrenees. Their origin and fall are shewn to be both attributable to causes arising from the natural configuration of the coast. The land in this locality is flat, and the beach shallow and sandy, while at the same time it is exposed to the full force of the violent storms raised by the east winds which sweep over it from the Mediterranean. The rivers emptying into this shallow sea bring down large quantities of sand and mud, which, being driven back by the tides and storms, have in the course of ages formed bars or long lines of sandy dunes at some distance from the land. Within these sand banks are thus enclosed long lagunes, similar to the shallow sea, bounded by the well known Lido, in the midst of which Venice stands.

These lagunes formed convenient and safe harbours for the early Phoenicians and other navigators, and were suitable in depth for the size of the craft then in use. But gradually the floods of the rivers brought down more deposits, and even in Roman times threatened to block up the passages through the lagunes to the open sea. It was only by building a strong wall for the purpose of forcing the river Aude to keep in a certain channel, so that when in flood it might scour out the passage, and by the erection of beacons in the lagune to mark the navigable course, that the Roman port of Narbonne could be kept open. In 1320 a great flood destroyed the retaining wall and changed the course of the river, after which the ruin of Narbonne as a seaport was complete. The town is now 8 miles from the sea, and is connected with “la Robine” branch of the Canal du Midi, which unites the Mediterranean with the Bay of Biscay. A similar process to that at Narbonne has contributed to the ruin of several other ancient towns in this province,—a district which has also suffered more severely than any other at the hands of the Saracens. Forming as it does the easiest access from Spain into Provence, it necessarily lay open to constant attack. Besides, the Moors, although driven across the Pyrenees, were still masters of the sea, and as corsairs or pirates they scoured the Mediterranean for many centuries after the time of C. Martel, attacking and plundering the smaller towns all round the coast, and in some instances fortifying themselves on land in strong places whence they could issue to plunder the more inland country. Such was their establishment at the Grand Fraxinet, in the mountainous district lying to the east of Toulon, which is still known as the “chaine des Maures.”

We shall have occasion to observe some architectural effects resulting from their invasions, particularly how the inhabitants were forced to seek refuge on the rocky heights, and to build their towns on the top of almost inaccessible mountains. The Moors have also left traces of their presence both in the general design and details of several of the edifices of the Western Riviera.

Proceeding westwards from Marseilles by rail and passing St Gilles, we reach Montpellier, the architecture of which is chiefly modern. The ancient church of Maguelonne, situated on the outer boundary of the lagunes, may however, be visited from here. It was fortified and not unlike that of the Stes. Maries. Omitting for the present the wonderful town of Aigues-Mortes, to which we shall again return, we continue our journey amongst the lagunes, past the crowded modern seaport of Cette, and the ancient town of Agde, with its dark church crowned with frowning fortifications, and at last reach BÉziers, a place whose architecture claims our attention.

BÉziers is an ancient Roman town, which has still a few relics in the shape of Roman walls, but no classic buildings of any importance. It stands upon a steep hill with almost perpendicular faces towards the river Orbe, which flows round its base. The town was strongly fortified, and held a prominent place as a fortress in the Middle Ages. Large masses of these fortifications are still observable to the right of the terrace at the west

end of the cathedral (Fig. 96), now crowned with a large block of building occupied as a House of Detention.

The spacious main street of the town ascends the hill from the south-east, and presents on either hand indications of the chief industry of the place in the immense and cavernous-looking cellars filled with innumerable barrels of alcohol, which, being in many cases too numerous for the cellars to contain, encumber the street in great piles. The effect of a street composed of these great vaulted caves is unique and remarkable.

The Cathedral of St Nazaire stands on the summit of the hill. It was surrounded with a fortified enceinte, and, forming the chief citadel of the town, it was strongly built and designed for defence. The transept is the oldest portion, dating from the twelfth century. The southern angle buttresses are crowned with a parapet, pierced with flanking loop-holes, angled so as to send missiles in every direction. The cornice of these parapets is remarkable, and presents a good illustration of the Oriental or Saracenic influence above referred to (Fig. 97). The south transept commands the cloister, the walls of which were crenellated.

BÉziers suffered more, perhaps, than any other place during the Albigensian Crusades. On one occasion, when the town was taken, every human being was put to the sword, to the number, it is said, of 60,000 souls. The buildings and defences were in great measure destroyed, and the cathedral was partly rebuilt and re-fortified in the fourteenth century.

The west end commands the walls which crown the escarpments above the Orbe, and is strongly defended with two crenellated towers, and by a wide arched machicolation surmounting the west doorway and Rose window above it (Fig. 96). An embrasured parapet is placed above this, and three ornamental corbels jut out from the face of the wall, to enable the defenders to approach the parapet and man it. These corbels are, however, not joined to the parapet, although they divide the long arched machicolation into four smaller ones. The embrasures and machicolations are all provided (as usual in fourteenth and fifteenth century work) with bold beads or mouldings, to prevent arrows and bolts from ricocheting within the parapet.

The eastern apse was also rebuilt in the beginning of the fourteenth century. Here also (Fig. 98) wide machicolations are formed by arches thrown across between the buttresses, while the parapet above is finished with an open arcaded balustrade, which, in an ecclesiastical building, is more appropriate than an ordinary crenellation, and serves the same purpose equally well. These defences protect the large windows below from being taken by escalade, while, for still further security, the windows themselves are completely covered with strong ornamental iron grilles.

The interior (Fig. 99) exhibits a fine instance of Gothic design engrafted on the Southern ground plan.

The choir is a simple wide hall, terminated with an apse of the full width, and containing nine bays; while the groined and ribbed vaulting, and all the details of the windows, arches, and shafts, with their ornamentation, is entirely Gothic. The lower part has been finished at a much later period with Renaissance woodwork. In the manner in which the apse vaulting is carried out there is a strong reminiscence of the domical form; while the upright wall above the vaulting, with its circular eye at the junction of apse and choir, is a feature which recalls many ProvenÇal examples.

The cloisters are situated to the south of the church, and are in good preservation. Their design is completely Northern, of the somewhat cold style of the fifteenth century. The arcade is open, and without tracery, with large buttresses between, carried up with pinnacles above the balustrade. The fountain in the centre of the cloister-garth is simple but effective (Fig. 100).

The view of the town and cathedral from the river (Fig. 98) is very fine. The great mass of the cathedral is seen towering above the huge remains of the ancient fortifications; while in the foreground the Orbe is dammed up, and forms the motive power of a number of picturesque mills in the form of towers. An ancient bridge spans the river lower down.

FIG. 101. HOUSE IN BÉZIERS.

Near the cathedral is a house of the fifteenth or sixteenth century, with a quaint bow window (Fig. 101). The great corbels over the window to the left have no doubt been for the purpose of supporting some kind of balcony in connection with the defence of the entrance doorway below.

In the district we are now traversing many interesting examples still exist of the ancient ProvenÇal style similar to those already illustrated.

At Puisalicon, near BÉziers, there occurs a remarkable specimen of a campanile, with three tiers of arched openings, like those of Italy (see Fergusson’s Handbook).

At St Pierre de Reddes, near Bedarieux, the ancient church consists of a long nave with barrel vault, strengthened with transverse ribs, which spring from a series of double columns, of which the arrangement is evidently borrowed from the Antique (Fig. 102).

St Martin de Londres (Herault) may also be mentioned as having a tri-apsal east end, while the exterior is ornamented with the arcaded pattern so common on the Rhine and in Lombardy.

Narbonne.—When the Romans, B.C. 118, became masters of Southern Gaul, they established, under the leadership of an enthusiastic young patrician called Licinius Crassus, a colony in the ancient Phoenician port, dedicating it to Mars, and giving it the name of Narbo Martius. A principal object of this colony was to secure the road into Spain. After a time the first foundation became weak, and, B.C. 45, a new colony was led out from Rome by Tiberius Claudius Nero. Narbo Martius was then capital of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis, which extended from the Alps to the Pyrenees.

Under the Empire, there arose in this favoured colony, on the banks of the Atax or Aude, a complete image on a small scale of Imperial Rome, with its curia, duumvirs, consuls, pretors, questors, etc., and it was adorned with a Forum, Temples, Markets, Baths, and Amphitheatre.

Of these fine Roman edifices not one remains. Such of them as escaped the devastations of the Goths and Saracens are said to have been demolished by Richelieu, that the materials might be used in the construction of the new fortifications of the town erected by him. The engineer of these works seems to have had more reverence for ancient art than his princely master, for he collected all the sculptured fragments, and built them into the walls where they could easily be seen. The fortifications thus formed a kind of open air museum of ancient sculptures and inscriptions; but they have now, in their turn, been removed to make room for the expansion of the town. The Roman monuments, however, have been preserved, and are placed in the mediÆval Episcopal Palace, which has been partly converted into a museum.

The important architectural works which still exist are all concentrated round the Cathedral of St Just (Fig. 103). As at BÉziers, the Cathedral formed part of the fortifications of the Archbishop’s Palace. It is one of those designs in Northern Gothic which look as if transplanted into Southern soil. The whole character of the buildings is Northern. Whether we regard the steep roofs and gables, the sub-divided forms of the vaulting, the sections of the mouldings, the character of the cloisters, the shape of the windows, the dispositions of the plan, or the defensive arrangements, the whole design appertains to the style of the Royal Domain.

M. Viollet-le-Duc shews the very close resemblance between the plans of St Just and those of the Cathedrals of Limoges and Clermont, in Auvergne. These he regards as the three most splendid and remarkably similar examples of the Gothic of the fourteenth century, and he thinks that they have probably all been designed by the same man. The Cathedral of Narbonne is distinguished by the beauty and skill of its construction. In the fourteenth century the Gothic architects had arrived at great perfection in the art of building. The various forces in connection with the vaulting had become perfectly understood, and here the architect has endeavoured to shew how accurately he could calculate them. All the mouldings are carefully profiled, and the penetrations and junctions admirably managed; but sculpture is almost entirely dispensed with, even the caps of the columns having no foliage.

As a piece of architectural engineering the building is perfect, and has stood without a flaw; but it rather wants interest owing to the absence of ornamentation. It was begun on a great scale, but, owing to want of funds, only the choir has been erected. The vault is nearly as high as those of Beauvais and Cologne. The absence of decoration in the building itself is, to some extent, compensated by the richness and beauty of the tombs and monuments inserted between the piers of the choir. That of Archbishop Pierre de la JugÉe is specially rich in sculpture, and still retains some fine painting.

Like most of the churches in the South, St Just is fortified, and, along with the Archbishop’s Palace, formed the citadel of the city, and occupied the site of the Roman Forum. The fortifications consist in a double tier of crenellations, which take the place of the usual balustrades over the chapels, and are continued round the apse, with arched passages which rest on piers brought up from the chapels of the “rond point,” and are crowned with turrets which, as well as the connecting bridges, are all provided with crenellated parapets. These airy provisions for defence give an unusual and very singular appearance to the exterior of the apse (see view, Fig. 103).

In the twelfth century Narbonne was a place of great importance, but, owing to the silting up of the harbour in the fourteenth century, its commerce and revenues were greatly diminished.

The Archbishop’s Palace was an immense castle, somewhat after the type of the Pope’s Palace at Avignon. The ancient city of Narbonne preserved, till the twelfth century, much of its Roman municipal administration—the Commune having councillors with the title of probi homines, afterwards changed to that of consuls, who not only carried on the internal affairs of the city, but negotiated treaties with Genoa, Pisa, and other powers. As invariably happened, however, these rights were encroached upon by the feudal superiors. At Narbonne the Archbishop claimed the superiority, and in 1212 he declared himself Duke, and received the homage of the Count, who was the lay superior. These different powers in the town were naturally in a state of constant warfare, and, in accordance with the usage of the times, the Archbishop resolved to fortify himself within a castle of strength and dignity commensurate with his importance as Primate of Gaul—a title assumed by the prelate who was in office in 1096. A few portions of the palace of the twelfth century remain, but it has nearly all given way to works erected at later periods. The building is now converted into the HÔtel de Ville and Museum; and, in order to carry out the alterations required, together with the new works (which were executed under the superintendence of Viollet-le-Duc) some of the old buildings and foundations had to be cleared out. This new work occupies the central space between the two old towers (see Fig. 103). The architect had thus an excellent opportunity of ascertaining the exact form and arrangement of the ancient palace, and of preparing the plan of it given in his “Dictionnaire.”

At the south-east angle stands the great tower or keep (to the left in the view), commanding the canal and the “place,” and overtopping the tower of the Count, which stood opposite to it. This tower was built by Archbishop Gilles Ascelin in 1318, and forms an independent redoubt. It is four storys in height. The basement is circular internally, and, as usual, has no openings to the exterior, being only reached from the floor above by an aperture in the vault. The first floor is octagonal internally and vaulted. It is intended for defence, and is provided with passages in the thickness of the walls, from which diverging loopholes command the exterior in all directions. The third floor is square internally, and has been the living room, being furnished with windows on three sides and a fireplace, and had a wooden ceiling. The top story is also square, and is covered with a pointed vault. It has three windows, and chambers in the wall provided with loops for defence. The construction of the roof and angle turrets is somewhat remarkable. The central platform of the roof is some feet lower than the parapet walk, and is connected with it by a series of steps rising along each side. The angle turrets are three storys in height, and access is obtained to the different stages, 1st, from the platform roof; 2nd, from the parapet walk; and 3rd, by steps up from the latter to the parapet on the top of the turrets. The tower was fortified on its three angles next the outside, with the above formidable turrets, which were probably further armed with some kind of wooden machicolations in time of danger. The fourth angle, next the inner courtyard, contained the staircase with a watch turret carried up above it.

The other portions of the palace comprised an immense hall, and the numerous living apartments of the archbishop and his retainers. The entrance was by a long open passage well defended from high walls on either side. Within the fortified enclosure were also the cloisters and chapter house. These are of a somewhat late and cold design, dating from 1375. The roof, which is flat, formed an agreeable promenade within the walls.

The Church of St Paul, beyond the canal, is an example of the mixture of the Gothic and Southern styles. The piers are light and lofty, and exhibit a Gothic character mixed with souvenirs of the heavier preceding style, in the small and few windows, the “historied” caps, &c.

On the way between Narbonne and Perpignan ample opportunity is afforded, as the railway runs along between the lengthy lagunes and through the dreary salt marshes, of observing the process of silting up which has here been in progress for centuries, and which has had such a marked influence in changing the character of the country, and in affecting the fortunes of the various cities which formerly flourished on the prosperous banks of these inland seas, now so desolate and pestiferous.

After passing the lagunes we reach the wide and fertile plain of Roussillon, where the process of silting up has long been completed, and where fruitful gardens now take the place of marshy wastes. Here too the snow-capped Pyrenees, surmounted by the lofty peak of Mont Canigou, come into view, bounding the prospect to the south, and pointing to the vicinity of the Spanish frontier. The language and architecture of the province also emphasise its Spanish character.

Perpignan, which stands near the rapid river Tet, has many points which distinguish it from the towns we have just passed further north. A prominent feature of the architecture, doubtless Moorish in origin, is the enormous size of the voussoirs of the arches. In one old building, called the Bourse, the voussoirs of the circular arch of the doorway are quite 6 feet in length. Numerous fragments of this peculiar style, and of walls built with the herring-bone work characteristic of the country, are to be met with in the town, but there are no really good and complete specimens. Some of the interior courtyards, with their wooden balconies, are very foreign looking and picturesque examples of the Spanish influence.

The castellet (Fig. 104) which defends the gate of the city close to the river, has quite a different aspect from that of French castellated work. It is entirely built in brickwork, even the great corbels of the parapet being of that material. This small castle was erected by Charles V., and formed the original gateway of the town. It consists of two nearly round towers, with projecting circular turrets on their faces, and a double curtain wall between, through which the double gates no doubt formerly passed. The structure is surmounted with an octagonal tower, having a boldly overhanging parapet, which recalls the military architecture of the North of Italy, as exhibited in buildings such as the Badia at Florence and the Castle of Ferrara. The inner archway with its enormous voussoirs still exists. The gateway now in use adjoins the castellet on the east side (on the left in the sketch), and is provided with a drawbridge. This was probably erected when the system of fortification was altered, and the outer works shewn in the sketch and containing embrasures for cannons were erected.

In the Cathedral of St Jean (Fig. 105) we have a very characteristic example of the Southern style. It consists, as usual, of one great hall or nave, without side aisles, and with a series of lofty chapels, between the buttresses, which are thus enclosed within the building.

The church has a vault of fully 60 feet in width, and

is lightly and boldly spanned with pointed and groined vaulting.

The apse is similar in character to that at BÉziers. The vaulting of this part was completed under Charles V., and indicates its late date by its interpenetrating ribs. There is almost no ornament, the architects of the time giving their attention chiefly to the scientific construction of their edifices. St Jean was founded by Sancho II., King of Majorca, in 1324. This was long before Roussillon came under the direct influence of France, which only took place under Louis XI. The style of the building is thus not affected by the importation of the style of the North, as at Narbonne, except as regards the vaulting, which is of a much later period. Some relics of a more ancient Church of St Jean (le Vieux) adjoin the cathedral, and contain some interesting Romanesque work. St Jacques (thirteenth century) has a remarkable tower, and the ruins of the Dominican convent and church contain good cloisters, two sides being Romanesque, and the others fourteenth century work, with caps bearing shields, etc.

The citadel, which occupies the site of the castle of the kings of Minorca is now a powerful fortress, a la Vauban. It contains the ruins of an ancient church with a doorway, the voussoirs of which are large, and composed of alternate red and white stone in the style of Catalonia.

A very interesting and agreeable excursion may be made from Perpignan to Elne, a few miles further south.

Elne, in Roussillon, stands on a height in the midst of the great plain which extends to the base of the Pyrenees near the frontier of Spain, and is a town of great antiquity. It was in ancient times a seaport, but is now separated from the sea by a wide and level expanse of country.

Elne, or as it was anciently called, Illiberris, was a Celtic city before it was frequented by the Phoenicians as one of their ports. The first Phoenician colony was destroyed before we have any detailed history of the country. It was rebuilt by the Illiberians, and again ruined. Once more restored by Constantine the Great, it continued, so long as its connection with the sea lasted, an opulent and populous place. But when, through the silting up of the water-way, it ceased to be a seaport, its prosperity departed, and the town has gradually declined, till it is now reduced to a mere village perched on the top of a rock. Constantine gave it the title of Castrum HelenÆ, whence its present name is derived.

In 1285 and 1474 Elne was again besieged and destroyed. These events helped to hasten its decay, and finally its Bishop’s See, which had existed from the fifth century, was removed to Perpignan in 1602. Some portions of the ancient walls, built with the herring-bone work so common in this district, have not yet entirely crumbled away, and the town is still entered through a pointed gateway (Fig. 106) built with white marble, the passage through which is provided with a portcullis groove.

The ancient church occupies the highest part of the rocky site. It is very plain externally and shews the marks of many alterations. The cathedral had been twice built in the plain, but was destroyed by the Saracens. This led the Bishop BÉranger in 1019 to transfer it to its present securer site within the walls of the castle. The existing structure is of the twelfth century. The masonry is roughly built, partly with herring-bone work, and in some cases the arches of the windows are distinguished with dark-coloured stones. The interior is divided into a nave and two aisles, the tunnel vault of the nave being pointed and strengthened with round transverse ribs. The side aisles are vaulted with a half arch thrown against the walls of the nave like a continuous flying buttress. The vaults next the west end have, however, been reconstructed with cross ribs, a restoration probably of the fourteenth century. The whole of the work is of the simplest character and almost without ornament.

At the east end (Fig. 107) the ancient apse with its circular arcade is visible, rising above the foundations of a larger choir which was begun in the sixteenth century, but still stands unfinished, the works having evidently been interrupted before they had reached the height of 10 feet from the ground. The new choir is designed on the plan of a Northern “chevet” or apsidal east end, with radiating chapels. The campanile is noteworthy as a design of that class of edifices closely imitated from those of Italy.

But the most truly attractive and remarkable part of the antiquities of Elne is the beautiful cloister (Fig. 108), which, fortunately, is still complete and in fine preservation. Each side of the enclosure has, besides the angle piers, three intermediate square piers, the spaces between them being each divided into a triple arcade, supported on coupled columns, the shafts of which are ornamented with all kinds of twists and foliated decoration. The whole is executed in white marble, and finished with great delicacy, forming the richest example remaining of this class of cloister, of which so many fine specimens occur in the South. The work is of various periods, from the twelfth to the fourteenth century. The oldest portions exhibit, in their ornament, a strong Byzantine feeling, which the artists of the later periods have endeavoured to imitate in the portions of the cloisters subsequently built. The shafts and caps of the later columns are as richly carved as the older ones, but they are covered with ornament of a much less conventional character, and more in the style of the natural foliage universally employed in the North in the fourteenth century. To a later period also belong the groined and ribbed vaults with which the cloister is roofed, and the corbels in the walls from which the ribs spring and which are formed as panels containing figure subjects finely executed. The doorway from the cloister into the church is pointed, and has voussoirs of white and red marble alternating—a style of decoration very usual in the South, and which may perhaps be the result of the proximity to the Moors in Spain.

Several interesting bas-reliefs and other ancient fragments have been preserved by being built into the walls.

Carcassonne.—An architectural description of the edifices of Provence and the Riviera would be incomplete without some account of the two most perfect examples of

MediÆval castellated architecture which still exist in the towns of Carcassonne and Aigues Mortes. These are, from their excellent state of preservation, quite unique, and far surpass in extent and interest the remains of the fortifications of any of the other cities of Western Europe.

The town of Carcassonne is situated on the river Aude, which is spanned by two bridges, one of them dating from 1184. The portion on the left or north bank was a “bastide,” or detached town, laid out in the time of St Louis; the streets being all drawn at right angles, as was usual in the towns then erected on new sites. Such were the numerous villes-neuves constructed by Edward III. in the South-west of France, and which he endowed with certain privileges, in order to induce men to settle in them, and thus increase the population and strength of the country.

The ancient citÉ of Carcassonne stands on the summit of a hill on the right bank of the river. It is still surrounded by its double wall of enceinte, studded with round and square towers, and dominated by the masses of the ancient castle, which rise boldly above the steep and rocky hillside, and present a sight as novel and picturesque as can well be imagined (Fig. 109). The site is naturally a strong one, and was doubtless occupied from a very early period as a primitive fortress. It afterwards became a Roman town, and was surrounded by the Romans with walls.

The Visigoths, who were absorbed into the native population and continued the Roman civilisation, rebuilt the walls, some of which still survive, apparently on the Roman foundations and after the Roman manner. The Roman system of fortification consisted in erecting two walls to form an outer and inner face, the space between which was filled up with earth and stones. The level of the ground on the inside of the fortress was kept much higher than that on the exterior, and a broad parapet walk, easily accessible from the interior level, ran round the top of the wall, and was protected towards the outside with a parapet.

At Carcassonne the more ancient parts of the curtains are composed of two walls built with small cubic masonry, alternating with courses of thin bricks (Fig. 110), the central space being, however, filled, not with earth, but with rubble masonry and mortar. The level of the ground is much higher next the town than towards the exterior.

Some of the towers of the Visigoths still remain, and rise considerably above the curtains. These, like the towers of the Romans, are circular to the exterior and square next the city, on which side they are also open, both for the purpose of admitting of munitions being easily hoisted up to them from below, and also to render them useless in the hands of an enemy as against the town. Externally they are furnished with embrasures at the top, which were provided with a swinging wooden shutter for defence, to support the pivots of which stone hooks are inserted at the eaves. The top is covered with a pointed roof (see Fig. 110).

The towers were detached from the curtains by

a pit or gap in the parapet walk where it adjoined them, so that each tower might form a separate post, and be defended independently. The lower part of the walls, being below the interior level of the ground, was peculiarly liable to be attacked by mining and battering, against which the defenders could make no direct resistance. The besiegers, as they knocked out parts of the wall, supported the superstructure in a temporary manner with wooden props, and when they had completed their mining operations, they set fire to the props, and the wall above fell and formed a breach.

Like the Roman permanent camps, these fortified cities had a castle or citadel, which was almost invariably placed on the highest point of the site, and adjoined the enceinte so as to command and defend the town, and, at the same time, be in a position to receive supplies and reinforcements from without. Within the castle, again, was a still further security in the donjon, or redoubt, which was detached from the other works, and often had a ditch and an enclosing wall, or chemise, of its own, and could be held after all the other defences had succumbed. Such walls as those of the Visigoths at Carcassonne were sufficient to resist the means of attack employed from the fifth to the eleventh century. At that period of revival a great improvement took place all round, and there can be no doubt that the early Crusaders learned much in the East with regard to the science of attack and defence of strongholds. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, towers like those of the Normans were erected, which depended for their security on the natural strength of the site, and the great height and thickness of the walls—their height protecting them against assault by scaling, and their mass and position against the mine and battering ram. They were further strengthened with outer walls and ditches.

A very interesting description, illustrative of the manner of carrying on and resisting siege operations, is quoted by Viollet-le-Duc from a report rendered by Guillaume des Ormes, Seneschal of Carcassonne, to Queen Blanche, on the raising of the siege of that town by Trenceval in 1240. The report details how the besiegers and defenders battered one another with mongonneaux; how they mined and countermined; how part of the wall was sapped, and a breach formed, inside of which the defenders raised a wooden bretÊche, crowned with hoards, and armed with archers.

On St Louis’ return from his first crusade, he was desirous to strengthen his position in the newly-acquired dominions of the Count of Toulouse. He, therefore, resolved to make a strong citadel of Carcassonne. For this purpose the houses in the suburbs were cleared away, and a new town, or bastide, was established, as above mentioned, for the ejected inhabitants on the opposite side of the river, where the new town now stands.

Under King Louis the outer enceinte of Carcassonne was rebuilt (Fig. 111). Between this and the inner wall of enceinte a space is left, called the “lices,” in which troops can circulate, and patrols and sentries move in safety. The ground of the “lices” is nearly on the same level as the present parapet of the outer wall, while the wall is about thirty feet above the soil outside. The towers are built with an open side next the “lices,” so that, even if taken by the enemy, they could not be held by him against the inner walls. St Louis also erected an immense barbican, or round redoubt, at the base of the hill, between Carcassonne and the Aude, so as to command the river, and allow of sorties being made on the level ground adjoining it.

Philippe le Hardi continued the works of the fortifications

till his death in 1285, his operations being chiefly on the east and south sides.

There are two principal gateways in the walls, the Porte de l’Aude and the Porte Narbonnaise (Fig. 112), both strongly defended with towers and other works. There are also six posterns, all placed in angles so as to be masked by the towers, and generally several feet above the level of the ground. These were useful for relieving sentries, and for the movement of troops in the “lices.” Opposite some of the posterns the outer walls are provided with large barbicans (Fig. 113), in which soldiers might be concentrated for sorties. As above mentioned, the great circular barbican at the base of the hill was also employed for this purpose. Nothing could give a better idea of the multiplicity and complication of the means of defence then employed than the mode of connection between this barbican and the castle. The rampart or passage which led to the castle above was especially well fortified. It was steep, and the ascent was interrupted with several cross walls with doors, approached by steps which were all commanded from the walls and curtains above, and from a great tower at the top, all armed with bretÊches or hoards. Towards the upper end the passage turned to the right, and was flanked by the defences above. A small gate was then reached, within which the passage doubled back again to the left, and was stopped by another gate, beyond which it entered a narrow covered way of three storys in height, each commanding the one below by means of machicolations or apertures in the floor, so that, if the first floor was gained, the assailant found himself in a trap, and was battered from above. If all these defences were surmounted, the besieger was only the length of the “lices,” and had still above him the lofty walls and towers of the castle, and the strongly-fortified

postern, with its movable bridge, double machicolations, loop-holes, portcullis, and gates. Even within this, the entrance to the castle was impeded by a sloping and turning passage, furnished with numerous doors, and rising for twenty-three feet before the level of the courtyard was reached.

Such defences were almost impregnable, and are a good illustration of the intricacy of the fortifications adopted at that period. At a later time such contrivances were found to be a mistake, as they impeded the movements of the garrison. They proved a weakness rather than a strength by preventing men from being moved rapidly to a critical point at the required time. The leading idea, at this period, was to render every point of the defences independent of the rest. Each tower is, therefore, a separate fort; the castle and barbican are independent of the city walls, and could hold out although the town was in the hands of the enemy; and within the castle there are two independent towers or donjons, which might still form a refuge for the garrison for some time after the castle was taken.

The lofty square tower (see Fig. 110), which was crowned with a bretÊche, was carried up to a sufficient height to dominate the town and the whole surrounding country. This structure and some of the adjoining walls date from the twelfth century. The other buildings on the north side of the castle are of the time of St Louis. The inner enceinte of the castle with its towers and gates built by Philippe le Hardi (the latter part of the thirteenth century) are splendid examples of the military works of the period.

The walls of the towers surrounding the town are built with solid masonry in regular courses, with the face left rough. The lower part of the curtains is pierced with the long loops, sometimes 11 or 12 feet in length, then in use, and the top was fortified with hoardings or projecting wooden galleries, from the floor of which the defenders could drop stones and other missiles on the assailants, so as to keep them off from the base and prevent mining. All the walls and towers were furnished with these hoardings. The square holes in which the beams were inserted for carrying the galleries are still visible both in the outer and inner walls (Figs. 110-113).

The towers are placed at suitable intervals to enable the curtains to be defended from them by lateral fire, and some of them are strengthened with a projecting beak to prevent the sappers from approaching when the angle could not be well commanded from the adjoining parapets, as is the case in the tower at the N.W. angle of the walls seen in Fig. 111. One large square tower (shown in Fig. 111) called the “Tour de l’EvÊque” joins the outer and inner enceintes together by bridging over the space between them. It has thus complete control over the lices both from apertures in the vault, and from the hoardings which were projected on the flanks. This tower derives additional interest from having been used by Viollet-le-Duc as his studio while superintending the work of restoration, and it contains a number of fine plaster casts prepared by him.

The parapet walk of the inner wall runs all round the battlements. In some cases it is interrupted by the towers (Fig. 114), and passes through them; in other cases it is carried round the exterior of the towers on the side next the town,—the former towers being posts for guards and sentinels, and the latter being intended to serve as independent posts for defence. Access to the walls is provided by good open stairs on the side next the town, as shewn in Fig. 114, which represents the interior of the walls at the same place, as Fig. 113 shews the exterior.

The ramparts of Carcassonne have been to a large extent restored within recent years; but still remain untouched on the eastern side (see Fig. 112), where houses have been erected against the inner and upon the top of the outer walls, so as to convert the “lices” into a street. On this side the walls of the town are separated from the surrounding land, which here is rather high, by a wide and deep ditch. The high ground beyond the ditch was originally fortified with a large round tower (now destroyed) which is supposed to have communicated with the town by a subterranean passage.

Above the old houses on the walls are seen rising the great towers of the Porte Narbonnaise, each strengthened with a salient beak. Between these towers is the gateway. It had no drawbridge, but was defended in front by a great chain, a wide machicolation, a portcullis, and folding gates. In the centre of the vault over the archway there was a large opening, and the inner gateway was strengthened with a wide machicolation, a second portcullis, and a second gate. Besides these the towers were of course provided with their hoardings and a bretÊche projected over the gateway. The great angle tower, called the “TrÉsau,” and a large angle bartizan further protected the approach of the gateway, as seen in the sketch.

Such were the fortifications of Carcassonne, the chief frontier fortress on the side of Aragon, and there can be little doubt that against the means of attack then employed, they were practically impregnable.

The ancient Church of St Nazaire at Carcassonne may be taken as an example of the ruder form which the Romanesque style assumed in a district not far removed from Provence. It occupies the highest point of the height on which stands the ancient fortified citÉ of Carcassonne.

The church is placed near the walls of the city, and the west end is elevated and fortified so as to form part of the defences. The entrance to the nave is by a twelfth century doorway in the north aisle. The building consists of two portions, which form a striking contrast with one another (Fig. 115); the nave of the eleventh century, and the Romanesque choir of the fourteenth, the former of a massive and gloomy design, the latter of the lightest and most elegant Gothic.

The older portion consists of a central nave and two side aisles, separated by enormous piers, which are alternately plain cylinders and squares with an engaged column on each face. The bases of the piers vary greatly in form—none of them being of Roman design, but all set upon a great square block. The caps of the cylindrical piers differ considerably, but consist of large mouldings, with corbels and billet ornaments. The pier arches are circular, and the aisles lofty, and vaulted with round arches. Rising from the caps of the cylindrical piers are short columns, the caps of which carry the pointed transverse ribs of the tunnel vault of the nave, which is also pointed, and probably belongs to the twelfth century. The caps of these short columns, and of the attached shafts of the square piers, are all very large and bold, and seem to be founded on Roman designs.

The light Gothic work of the choir, with its tall slender shafts, and walls composed almost entirely of mullions and stained glass, forms a brilliant termination to the vista of the ponderous nave. It belongs to a much later period than the latter, having been erected by Bishop Pierre de Rochefort, 1320-30. It is a palpable instance of the extension of the Gothic style of the Royal Domain along with that of the Royal Power, having been erected shortly after Carcassonne was united to France.

Viollet-le-Duc considers this choir one of the most instructive instances of the scientific method of construction adopted by the Gothic architects of the fourteenth century; and he points out that the architect has endeavoured to keep up the idea of the ancient nave in the new work by preserving in the choir the plan of the nave piers—those of the central compartments being square, with attached shafts, while the others are round on plan.

We shall now return to Aigues Mortes, which, it will be remembered, was reserved for consideration along with Carcassonne.

Aigues Mortes is another town of the age of St Louis and his son Philip the Bold, the fortifications of which have, by great good fortune, been preserved almost untouched since the date of their erection. This probably arises from the fact that Aigues Mortes presents one of the most striking instances of the “villes mortes,” whose history is so feelingly depicted by M. LenthÉric. It stands in the midst of the lagunes and marshes which here cover a large extent of country connected with the delta of the Rhone. The origin of the town dates from the time of St Louis. At that period the Kingdom of France had not as yet extended to the Mediterranean, but King Louis, being a devoted Crusader, was very desirous that his country should possess a port on that sea, from which his armies might embark in their expeditions against the Infidels. This there was some difficulty in obtaining, the harbours on the coast being almost wholly subject to the Count of BÉziers or the Count of Provence. It happened, however, that a small portion of the sea-coast, including a lagune and a navigable canal, which belonged to the ancient and wealthy Abbey of Psalmodi was available, and this King Louis secured from the monks in the year 1248, in exchange for other lands near SommiÈre. At

FIG. 116. AIGUES MORTES—“TOUR DE CONSTANCE.”

this place there existed an ancient tower, called the “Tour de MatafÈre,” said to be of the time of Charlemagne, who had bestowed it on the abbey.

The Tower of MatafÈre was rebuilt by St Louis, and renamed the “Tour de Constance” (Fig. 116). It is of great size, and was designed to form the citadel of the projected town of Aigues Mortes. It has frequently been supposed that, in the time of St Louis, this tower was washed by the waters of the Mediterranean, and that the sea, which is now some miles distant, has receded since then. But M. LenthÉric shews most distinctly that this is a complete mistake, and that the coast line was, in the thirteenth century, precisely where it now is. At that time, however, the town was surrounded with the waters of an inland lagune, through the shallows and marshes connected with which a canal had to be kept open for access to the sea, as was formerly the case at Narbonne, and still is in the lagune of Venice. The canal by which St Louis embarked on his crusades was called the Canal Viel. It was about five miles in length from the town to the opening in the sand dunes, called the “Grau Louis,” where it debouched into the sea. Since that time the canal from the town to the sea has three times changed its course. For about a century after the time of St Louis this port was greatly frequented by merchants from Genoa, but it has long been little used, and all the commerce of Aigues Mortes has now died away.

The walls of Aigues Mortes were traced out by St Louis, but the superstructure was executed by his son, Philip the Bold. The latter in 1272 took possession of the country of Toulouse and arranged with the Genoese Boccanera to construct the walls of Aigues Mortes for a sum equal to 88,500 francs. The town is laid out as a regular parallelogram with streets at right angles,

like the bastide of Carcassonne on the north side of the Aude. The walls are built with solid masonry, having the natural surface left rough or bossy. Fifteen towers surround the city and strengthen the curtains at the angles and on the flanks. There are nine gates, two principal ones, and the others smaller.

Being only a fortification of the second order the defences of Aigues Mortes are not nearly of so complete a type as those of the important fortress of Carcassonne. The towers are generally round, though some of them, following the Southern fashion, are square and project only slightly (Fig. 117). The gateways pass directly through the square towers, which, as we have seen at Avignon, was a decidedly Southern custom; and none of the circular towers have strengthening beaks. The towers are so placed with reference to the walls that some of them, as at Carcassonne, interrupt the parapet walk, while in others it is carried round the outside of the inner face of the tower, and is supported on large mouldings which form a continuous corbelling. This is shewn in the view of one of the towers above a gateway taken from within the walls (Fig. 118). The stairs giving access to the walls and the interior of the loopholes are also seen in this view.

The walls of the town, which are about 30 feet high, are all provided with a crenellated parapet, having long loops in the merlons between the embrasures. The wall heads have also been defended with wooden hoardings, the holes for the beams which carried them being very distinctly visible all round the fortress. The lower part of the wall is perforated with very long narrow slits. The interior recesses connected with these are formed with wide splays like window bays, and are provided with stone seats for the defenders (see Fig. 118). Probably the great

length of the loops was to enable bowmen to operate both while standing on the floor and on the seats, or even on temporary wooden platforms at different heights, and also to aim their arrows either high or low. The open staircases leading to the walls are carried up on the side next the town in the same way as those of Carcassonne.

In approaching the town from the north the Porte de Nimes (Fig. 119) is first seen in front, while a long vista of the northern wall with its towers stretches to the left, and the Tour de Constance terminates the view to the right. This gateway has as usual a large strengthening round tower on each side, containing guardrooms, &c., and is so arranged as to form an independent post.

Till the fourteenth century, gateways of this description were defended with folding gates, portcullis, machicolations (or apertures in the vault over the entrance passages), and with bretÊches or hoardings projecting over the entrance, pierced with single, double, or even triple tiers of loopholes from which to attack the assailants. But there were as yet no drawbridges. At the Porte de Nimes evidences may be observed of a drawbridge, wrought with long balanced beams or levers passing through the wall, having been used; but it has evidently been introduced at a later time.

The walls of Aigues Mortes were entirely surrounded with a wet ditch (a few indications of which still remain), but it has for the most part been filled up and converted into a promenade. The ditch would be crossed with moveable wooden bridges which could be easily removed or destroyed.

A projecting stone balcony is corbelled out from one of the round towers of the Porte de Nimes. This was no doubt a station from which audience could be given to heralds or others wishing to communicate with the

town without the necessity of opening any of the gates or other defences. The fortifications present on plan a right angled parallelogram about 600 yards from east to west, by 150 yards from north to south, with a curved portion cut out of the north-west angle. At this point stands the donjon, or Tour de Constance (see Fig. 116), built by St Louis, as above mentioned, on the site of the ancient Tour de MatafÈre in order to form the citadel of the town. This tower is of the simplest possible design, being a plain cylinder about 70 feet in diameter, with a talus or slope near the base. It is about 100 feet high, and was no doubt originally crowned with overhanging hoardings, and when fully equipped would present an appearance not unlike the well known great Keep of Couci Castle.

The Tour de Constance was surrounded with a special ditch, and was connected with the town walls by means of narrow wooden gangways, which could be easily removed. The top has been altered in the sixteenth century, and made into a platform, and provided with a parapet suitable for guns. Above the circular staircase in the thickness of the wall the watch turret rises to a considerable height, and is crowned with the iron grille which for long contained the fire which illumined the canal, and served as a beacon to the ships.

Simple as is the exterior of this keep, its interior is full of interest and beauty. The walls, as high as the first floor, are 20 feet in thickness. The basement contains the storage and has a well in the centre, over which an eye in the vaults above allows water to be raised to every floor.

The entrance door is on the first floor on the side next the town, and there is also a postern on this floor on the side next the country. From the landing at the former, a staircase leads to the second floor, and is so contrived that the lower part is completely overlooked and commanded from the upper part. At the landing where the staircase gives access to the great apartment on the upper floor, a beautifully arched and groined lobby is constructed, and is decorated with Gothic shafts and enriched caps.

The great hall on the first floor is vaulted in one span, with large pointed ribs springing from finely-carved caps. On the level of the floor there are recesses in the thick walls, giving access to long loops which descend far below the floor, so as to enable the defenders to shoot down as close as possible to the base of the tower. The postern is also seen from the inside (although now built up externally), with its portcullis (or rather a modern imitation) in situ. The interior is lit only by the narrow loop-holes, and is, therefore, very dark. A gallery runs round in the thickness of the upper part of the walls of the hall, with windows looking into the apartment from which it might be watched and commanded. Between the recess of one of the loops and the postern a fireplace is introduced, with an oven in the wall behind it. The hearth is covered with a boldly projecting hood, supported on two brackets carved with foliage. The angles of the hood have ornamental crockets, and the hood itself is carved in imitation of tiles. The whole work is massive and yet fine, and specially recalls, both in construction and ornament, the style of Couci. It has evidently been the work of a Northern architect brought with him by King Louis.

About two miles to the north of Aigues Mortes stands the “Tour CarbonniÈre,” which formed an outpost of the town. It was erected at the same time as the fortifications, and was placed so as to command the approach, which was only practicable by one course through the marshes and canals. It is a good example of a detached thirteenth century tower, and in style strongly resembles that of Villeneuve, at the west end of the bridge of St BÉnezet, at Avignon.

We shall now return to Marseilles, and strike eastwards by the Mediterranean Railway, along the Riviera.

For a considerable distance no architectural remains of importance are met with. The line passes through a rocky and mountainous country, the bare summits of the lofty peaks contrasting strongly with the rich verdure and luxuriant growth of the valleys below them, in which the subtropical vegetation of the Riviera now begins to shew itself.

After penetrating a mountain range by tunnel, the seacoast is reached, and some lovely bays are passed before sighting the lofty peaks of the mountains, each crowned with its fort, which surround and protect Toulon, the great arsenal of France on the Mediterranean. Architecturally there is little of interest in the town, but the harbour with its narrow antique quay, lined with houses fronting the basin, which is crowded with the peculiarly rigged trading vessels of the district, is well worthy of a visit. It recalls in some respects the Riva de’ Schiavoni at Venice, with its bustle and varied interest.

The railway to HyÈres branches off the main line at La Pauline Station. Just before reaching this, the ancient and picturesque town of La Garde is passed. Its houses are clustered on the slope of a basaltic rock, the summit of which is crowned with the ruins of an ancient castle, and a church. The aspect of this old place forms a good introduction to the picturesque and decayed character of the numerous ancient towns to be met with all along the Riviera.

HyÈres is the first reached in travelling eastwards of the great health resorts of the Riviera. It stands on the southern slope of a hill facing the sea, which is visible at a distance of about three miles off. The rocky summit of the hill is crowned with the ruins of an ancient castle, from which the steep and narrow streets of the old town radiate downwards. The town was formerly surrounded with walls, which have now been removed, and the space converted into a wide promenade, on which flourish the palms, oranges, and other tropical plants for which HyÈres is famous. The modern houses and hotels are also situated on this fair terrace, while some remains of the gateways connected with the old ramparts are still preserved. HyÈres stands high above the level of the sea and the plain which extends between it and the foot of the hill. It thus commands an extensive view to the south and south-west over the peninsula of Giens, and the Mediterranean dotted with the groups of Islands named after it, “les Iles d’HyÈres.”

There is nothing remarkable in the history of HyÈres. In Roman times a fortress existed here called Castrum ArÆarum.

In the thirteenth century the place was held by the Count of Fos, who was dispossessed by Charles of Anjou. Thereafter the castle and town passed through the usual assaults and changes, and during the sixteenth century was in possession of the Catholics and Protestants in turn.

The enceinte of the castle (Fig. 120) is well preserved, many of the towers which strengthen it being almost entire. These are for the most part square and lofty, and have thus quite a Southern aspect. The original crenellations still exist, together with the holes for the short beams which carried the wooden hoardings for defence at the summit. The openings are generally long narrow slits, but in the eastern angle tower three small pointed windows occur. The keep is almost entirely demolished. It occupied the summit of the rock, and from its ruins a commanding and extensive prospect is obtained. The walls are probably not older than the thirteenth century. Within the enceinte the ground is laid out as a private vineyard.

In the middle of the old town stands the picturesque church of St Paul, approached from a terrace commanding a beautiful view seawards, by a wide staircase crowned with a corbelled tower. It is originally of the twelfth century, but has been altered. The walls of the east end have had to be brought up from a considerable depth, owing to the great slope of the ground, and the lower part of the buttresses shew work like that of the thirteenth century, but the upper part is later. Internally the church has four bays and an apse—all late—the caps of the piers being of Renaissance work. The central nave and aisles are all groined. A wide chapel crosses the building at the west end, and is surmounted with a plain square tower (Fig. 121) of the type of the Italian campanile, of which numerous specimens are to be met with at Grasse and elsewhere along the Riviera. The upper round arched doorway, with its immense voussoirs, indicates a style of work of which several examples are to be met with in the town, and which is doubtless of Moorish or Spanish origin.

The HÔtel de Ville, on the place Massillon in the old town, occupies the chapel of a Commandery of the Templars. It has been much altered and renovated, but with its picturesque round tower at one side it has a good deal of character. A few portions of old houses present some good fragments of MediÆval Architecture here and there.

The main line of railway between Toulon and FrÉjus makes a great curve inland, so as to pass through the level and fertile valley lying between the detached and rugged district of “Les Maures” on the south, and the Alpines on the north. Half way along this valley is the station of Le Luc, about six miles to the northward of which stands a structure of great interest to the student of Architecture.

We have already explained the ascetic sentiments which actuated the early Cistertians in the construction of their buildings. Without some knowledge of the principles of these primitive reformers it would be difficult to understand the origin and meaning of much of the architecture of Provence. In the midst of the usually ornate structures of the country, we come occasionally on some important and remarkable churches, which, from the plainness and simplicity of their style, present a complete contrast to the former. Such are the three early daughters of Citeaux erected during the twelfth century at Senanque, Silvacanne, and Thoronet. The churches of these monasteries are all remarkably similar in design, and carry out to the letter the plainness and absence of decoration required by St Bernard.

Of this Thoronet is a striking example. This abbey is situated in a retired rural valley, about six miles north from Le Luc Station. On leaving the station, the road, after passing a large monastery with its chapel and cypresses, ascends by a steep footpath the hill on which stands the ancient town of Cannet (Fig. 122) still partly surrounded with its mediÆval walls. A delightful walk of two or three miles through a narrow and rocky valley clad with olives leads to the village of Thoronet, two miles beyond which the monastery is reached. It stands concealed by olive groves on the western slope of a narrow valley, through which flows a small stream, a tributary of the Argens. The church, with its plain apse and little spire, first meets the view, followed, on near approach, by the ruinous but extensive buildings of the monastery which disappear amongst foliage down the slope of the hillside. The public road now runs through the upper part of the enclosure of the abbey, and close along the south side of the church; while part of the monastic buildings to the west are occupied as a tavern or farmhouse.

The Monastery of Thoronet was founded in the beginning of the twelfth century, on ground granted by Raymond de BÉranger, Count of Provence, to the monks of Citeaux, and continued to be occupied by that order till their property was secularised and sold at the Revolution. The plan is that usual in Cistertian buildings of the period. The church has a nave, with central and side aisles, crossed at the east end by a large transept, from which, in the centre, a short choir having a circular apse, and two smaller chapels with altars in each transept, extend towards the east. At Thoronet the choir and chapels have apsidal terminations, but in some Cistertian churches the east end is square. Nothing could exceed the unadorned nature of the design, both externally and internally. The west end (Fig. 123) shews the principal entrance, which is a plain round-headed doorway, without even a moulding. The tall windows and the round one in this gable are treated equally simply. These, and a round

window over the apse, give the principal light in the church, which, like the other Southern churches vaulted on the same principle, has no clerestory. There is an alcove for a tomb in the exterior of the wall of the south aisle, but it is now empty. The interior (Fig. 124) presents, as it were, the bare skeleton of the other churches of Provence which we have already considered, without any of their ornamentation. The piers of the nave are simply portions of a side wall set on square slabs as a base, with a plain break to sustain the inner member of the nave arch. Above these rises the perfectly plain, pointed, barrel vault, strengthened with simple square-cut transverse arches, which spring from round attached vaulting shafts, resting on the plainest possible corbels, and having caps of a very simple form.

The vault of the central nave is buttressed by half vaults in the side aisles, which are of the same design.

The tiles of the roof, both of the central nave and the side aisles, rest directly on the outside of the vaults without any wooden construction. This, as we have seen, is the usual arrangement in the churches of Provence, such as Notre Dame des Doms, Avignon, and St Trophime, Arles.

The cloister, and some of the monastic buildings adjoining, are well preserved. A similar simplicity reigns throughout these. The cloister consists, as usual, of four arcades enclosing a garth on the north side of the church. The arcade next the nave is on a higher level than the other three, owing to the slope of the hill, and is only one story high, there being no rooms on this side for an upper gallery to give access to. The other three sides of the cloister had originally an upper floor, with open arches next the garth, and an open timber roof. These galleries gave access to the dormitory and other apartments on the upper floor. The arcades of the cloisters (Fig. 125) are of a very

simple form, consisting of plain round arches in the wall, filled in with a single solid shaft supporting two smaller round arches, and a circular eye above. The arches are absolutely without mouldings. The caps and bases of the central shafts (Fig. 126) are of very simple design—a small leaf or uncarved set-off being all that is allowed to cover the passage from round to square, and any such enrichments are most elementary, both in design and execution. It will, however, be observed that these primitive ornaments, although simple, are original. They show no trace of Roman traditions, which, as formerly pointed out, were entirely renounced by the Cistertians in their reformed ProvenÇal art. These very elementary forms are thus the prototypes of the new and natural style of ornamentation above referred to in Part V. as having been introduced by the Cistertian Order. The small arches rest on an impost formed of a plain string course, which, together with the plain splay of the base, are cut off at the outer face of the wall, and do not return round it. This mode of cutting off strings, etc., is of frequent occurrence in buildings of this type.

The cloister walks are covered with plain, pointed, tunnel vaults, strengthened at intervals with square transverse ribs resting on plain corbels, which are inserted in a string course, formed of a simple ovolo.

At the intersection of the cloister walks the pointed vaults meet, and the junction is covered with a pair of square diagonal ribs intersecting one another in the angle.

Opening from the north side of the cloister is a hexagonal chamber, which served as the lavatory of the monks. It projects into the garth from the arcade (see Fig. 125), and has five windows, three of which are plain round-headed openings, and the two others are each finished with two small arches and a circular eye like those of the cloisters. A double doorway gives access from the cloister walk. The basin or vase for washing, which formerly stood in the centre, now lies broken in the garden.

The chapter-house opens into the eastern side of the cloisters by a doorway with a pointed arch, and two side windows, with three openings in each. These openings were for the purpose of enabling the monks in the cloister to hear what passed in the chapter-house. The latter is vaulted with groined-pointed vaults—the ribs being square with bead on angles, supported by two short and dumpy pillars, with spurred bases and remarkable caps, somewhat more ornamental than the others. In the east wing, over the chapter-house, the dormitory still exists, roofed with a wide barrel vault, strengthened with transverse ribs.

From the simple design of the cloister it is apparent how completely the Cistertians renounced the fine shafts and delicate carving of the cloisters of the early ProvenÇal type like those of Aix, with their light wooden roofs, and gave preference to vaults, as being more enduring, while at the same time they rejected all sculpture and ornament. Although simple and plain to a degree, there is a unity of purpose and an originality of character in this new and vigorous style which commands respect if not admiration.

Senanque, Silvacanne, and Thoronet were all built in the severe style of the first fervour of the Cistertians early in the twelfth century. By the end of the century this first enthusiasm became an affectation of simplicity and was gradually tempered by the preponderating influence of the Clunisiens, who were more in harmony with the spirit of the times than the rigid Cistertians,—the general tendency of the age being to great richness in architecture.

At a later period the monastery of Thoronet seems to have been enclosed with walls, within which the grounds were laid out with taste and elegance. Few examples of this refinement have escaped destruction; but a fountain, with its basin set in an alcove in the outer wall, still survives (Fig. 127), and serves to refresh the traveller on the dusty highway which now passes through the pleasure gardens of the monks.

At St Maximin, which lies considerably to the west of Thoronet and is most conveniently approached by the railway between Aix and Carnoulles by Brignoles, there exists a church of a totally different character. It is said to be the most perfect specimen in Provence of a building in the pure Gothic style. The design has evidently been imported directly from the

North, and is precisely such an edifice as one would expect to meet with in the Ile de France. Its presence here therefore strikes one with surprise, and with a sense of incongruity with its surroundings. This church was begun towards the end of the thirteenth century by Charles of Anjou, but was not finished till the close of the fifteenth

century. The plan shews a central nave with side aisles, each terminated to the east with an apse. There is no transept. The vaults are pointed and simple in form. The central vault (Fig. 128) is lofty, being about 90 feet to the apex. When complete the aspect of the church must have been extremely light and fairy-like. The lofty windows of the clerestory and apse, which are all pointed, fill up with their traceries nearly the whole visible space, the masonry being reduced to its smallest limits. The same idea was carried out in the side aisles, where the windows were originally brought down almost to the pavement. When these windows were all filled with stained glass, as they are believed to have been (although it is now completely gone), the effect must have been very fine, and all the more splendid from the remarkable contrast it would present to the usually somewhat dark and gloomy character of Southern churches. Side chapels have now been added, and the aisle windows shut up by them; and it is stated that the structure is generally very much destroyed. Unfortunately the west faÇade has never been completed.

From Le Luc the railway follows the course of the wide and fertile valley of the River Argens to FrÉjus, the ancient Roman Forum Julii, so rich, as we have already seen, in Roman remains; and its MediÆval buildings will be found to be not less interesting.

The Cathedral of FrÉjus, erected probably in the twelfth century, is a prominent example of the adoption in Provence of the “single-hall” style of church, which (as explained in Part V.) was so universal in the south and west of France. The original church (Fig. 129) consists of

a nave of three divisions or bays, each covered with round intersecting vaults, strengthened with large square groins, and terminated at the east end with a circular apse, the whole extending to 120 feet in length by 28 feet in width. The vaults spring from piers, which are really large internal buttresses, with recesses between them 7 feet deep (Fig. 130). The north side wall has, however, been cut out, and a side aisle added at a later date, with still later chapels beyond. The string courses, caps, etc., are all of the same simple forms employed in so many buildings of the period. Nothing could be plainer or more devoid of ornament than

this massive and impressive edifice. The exterior of the cathedral has undergone many changes. The Bishop’s Palace adjoins it on the south, and covers a large part of the south wall. The whole series of buildings connected with the cathedral, have at one time been enclosed with a strong wall, built in regular courses, left rough on the surface. Some portions of this work are visible in the outer wall next the street at the west end. There, intermingled with a great deal of modern addition and alteration, may still be traced the remains of two windows (Fig. 131) of the twelfth or early thirteenth century, with circular arches springing from carved caps. In the jambs of one of these windows the caps still surmount projecting shafts standing on corbels, but they have disappeared from the other. The details are given in Fig. 133. Several of the original small windows of the basement, however, remain unaltered. They have the circular heads and the deeply splayed external ingoing of the period.

The east end of the cathedral (Fig. 132) is very remarkable. The apse, which is circular within, is only slightly rounded externally, and is carried up to a considerable height as a tower of defence, and armed with an embattled parapet at the top, supported on bold corbels with machicolations between them.

FrÉjus Cathedral is thus another instance of the numerous fortified churches so characteristic of the South, and formed part of the general fortified enclosure which protected the Bishop’s Palace and the other ecclesiastical buildings connected with the see. Adjoining the apse considerable remains of the ancient Bishop’s Palace may still be traced, shewing (amidst modern alterations) work similar to that of the west end, and containing coupled pointed windows and doors with round arches. The enclosing and fortifying of the precincts seem to have been carried out at a time subsequent to the erection of the cathedral. This explains the peculiar form of the tower over the apse, and likewise the manner in which the ancient baptistery is enclosed in a similar mural envelope. The work was probably executed, to judge from the style, early in the thirteenth century. In that

century too the tower at the west end of the church seems to have been erected over what was probably the original narthex or anti-church. Internally the lower portions are executed in the style of the Gothic of the North, and the heavy tower above (Fig. 133) may possibly be of the same date. The coloured tiles, which give the spire a special character, are no doubt much more modern. We also find here other examples of work of different kinds and various periods. Of these the ancient baptistery (Fig. 134) is a structure of great interest. It stands at the west end of what seems to have been originally, although now covered in, a small open court, such as generally existed in front of the western entrances to the early churches. The plan of the baptistery is octagonal, being the same as that adopted for the primitive baptisteries in Italy. Octagonal or circular edifices such as this are frequently called Roman temples; but, although they very closely resemble Roman work, they are found, on an examination of the details, to be only imitated from classic design, and are clearly of Christian origin.

At FrÉjus, the baptistery is ornamented with a granite monolithic column in each of its eight angles, provided with caps of white marble. The caps and bases (Fig. 134) are varied in design, and are all closely imitated from the Corinthian, although none of them are exactly after that pattern. The massive fragment of stone, moulded on the front, which is placed over each, is probably a survival or reminiscence of the entablature which was always thought necessary in classic times. The upper portion, which was most likely an octagonal dome in the original building, is now modernised. The plan shews an attempt to make the floor as square as possible, by means of four deep niches introduced in the four angles. The central font is peculiar in form, and stands on a fragment of an ancient column.

In connection with this baptistery it may be interesting here to call attention to the fact that a monument in the same style, but superior in size and design, still exists at

Riez, an ancient Roman colony instituted under the patronage of Augustus, some distance to the north-west of Draguinon. The original town was built on the plain watered by the river Colastre (a tributary of the Verdon), but the inhabitants have long abandoned the low ground, and the houses now stand an the slope of the Mont Saint-Maximin above. In the deserted plain are to be found four Corinthian columns of grey granite from the Esterel with caps, bases, and architraves of marble. These, according to Texier and Pullan, formed the faÇade of a prostyle temple.

The numerous fragments of pottery and mosaics which are constantly dug 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

But, in 1876, these remains were swept away, and a new church erected in the ProvenÇal style, but without any special features. The only ancient portion now remaining is the cloister (Fig. 157), built in the simple Cistertian style, with a circular vault, strengthened with transverse ribs. The side next the cloister garth is enclosed with a wall, in which only small openings or windows are perforated—not the usual wide arcade.

Of the antique structures of the island an extremely interesting example still survives in the chapel of the Ste TrinitÉ (Fig. 158), situated at the eastern point of the island, opposite the islet of Ferreol. It is very peculiar in design, and is undoubtedly one of the earliest buildings in Provence.

The plan (Fig. 159) shews a nave of two bays, having one transverse arch supported on simple columns, with rude caps of the same section as the string courses or imposts of the arches, beyond which is a triapsal choir, crowned with a small and rudely-formed dome. The apses have their semi-domed vaults fairly well constructed, but the central dome is not raised from any definite pendentives,

but as best it could be done by the workmen of the time out of a lower dome which fills in the angles between the apses.

The original exterior (Figs. 160 and 161) is extremely plain, the quoins and doorway with its square lintel being constructed with large stones, probably derived from a Roman building (Fig. 162). The upper part of the walls was raised by the Spaniards, in the sixteenth century, to form a platform for guns. The earlier form of the western gable is visible in Fig. 160.

We have evidently, in this primitive structure, a rude attempt to imitate the triapsal and domical forms originally used in the early Christian architecture of the cemeteries at Rome, and afterwards more fully developed in the East. Viollet-le-Duc attributes its erection to the seventh or eighth century.

Of the seven chapels which once extended round the island, and formed the object of many pilgrimages, those of Ste TrinitÉ (just described), and St Sauveur near the centre of the north side, alone survive. The latter (Fig. 163) is octagonal on plan, with niches on each of the sides, and a larger central one, forming an apse opposite the door. This apse alone is visible on the outside. The chapel is unfortunately greatly modernised.

In course of time the monastery naturally became rich, and formed a tempting bait to the Corsairs of the Mediterranean, whether Saracen or Christian, who attacked and plundered it several times. It is said that on the occasion of one of these descents in 725 St Porchaire and five hundred monks were massacred. A restored chapel to the south of the convent still bears the name of that martyr.

To provide a safe place of retreat in case of similar attacks in future it was resolved to erect a keep or castle on a promontory of rock which juts out into the sea at the south side of the island. Here a perpetual look-out could be kept over the sea from the watch-tower on the summit, and notice of danger given by ringing the bell (the belfry for which still exists) in time to enable the monks to take refuge with their valuables within the keep. The castle is stated to have been begun about 1073 by the AbbÉ Aldebert II., partly on Roman substructions and partly on the rock, and the chapel was consecrated in 1088 (see “Les Iles de LÉrins,” by the AbbÉ Allier.) In fifteen years the second floor was commenced, and in 1190 the tower was finished. Having been frequently sacked and destroyed there is some difficulty in making out the original plan. Besides, containing as it does, an open cloister, it differs so greatly otherwise

from the feudal castles of the time, that their plans give little aid in deciphering that of the monastic keep. It seems, however, to have been originally (Fig. 164) an oblong building measuring 85 feet from east to west, and 58 feet from north to south, with a wing projecting to the southwards. This block was divided into two portions by a central wall running north and south, and contained in the eastern division an open cloister, formerly three, though now reduced to two storys in height, and in the western division the refectory, dormitory, and other apartments. To the east a small projection or tower contained on the first floor the lavatory and latrines, and at the top was carried up as a watch-tower above the parapet, and

surmounted by the belfry for the alarm bell. The space at the north end of the cloister is (as we shall presently see) a

later extension of the original keep. The entrance door is in the north wall (Fig. 165), several feet above the level of the ground. It has a square lintel, with a round saving arch over it, and the door was strengthened with a sliding bar. A narrow passage at right angles, furnished with a second door, leads by a few steps up to the level of the principal floor and opens on the cloister. This is the most striking and remarkable part of the castle. It is 40 feet long by 27 feet wide, and is surrounded with a vaulted gallery (Fig. 166), supported on six columns—three on each side—leaving open to the sky a central space of 19 feet by 10 feet. The first view of this cloister is most impressive. The ancient appearance of the granite columns, with their quaint caps and bases, surmounted by bold pointed arches, above which rises an upper and lighter arcade; the rich colour of the walls; the sombre effect of the dark arcades contrasted with the bright light of the open central court; and the unusual character of the structure, all combine to produce a powerful and lasting effect on the mind. Nor does a closer inspection diminish the interest. Some of the pillars are found to be genuine Roman ones, brought from some ancient building, and here utilised in a very matter-of-fact though telling manner. The columns being generally too short, some of them have been pieced up with the yellow limestone of the district, while others have been elevated on bases of extra height. Three of the ancient shafts are of granite, one of red marble, and the remaining two of limestone. On one of the former (that at the south-west angle) can be read part of an inscription in honour of Constantine. This shaft has the appearance of having been long exposed in the open air, and many of the letters are worn away, so that some parts of the inscription are difficult to decipher. The following is the rendering of the

AbbÉ Allier; the letters within brackets being, however, illegible:—

Another interesting point connected with these pillars is the form and decoration of their capitals and bases (Figs. 167 and 167^a). At first sight they look very rude and primitive, but on careful examination they are seen to possess certain characteristics which belong to a comparatively late period, thus raising a suspicion as to their antiquity, which the evidently late vaulting of the cloister tends to confirm. One is therefore somewhat puzzled how to regard them, and what date to assign to them. But a comparison of the caps and bases of St Honorat with those of the cloister of Thoronet at once removes all difficulty. Original and quaint as both are, they are evidently (with the exception of some which are later, and will be afterwards referred to) the product of the same style and period. The AbbÉ Allier informs us that in 1295 the Abbot Gancelme de Mayreris did much work in the interior of the tower, and in 1315 a general chapter granted certain fines in order to raise funds for its completion. To this period probably belongs the first construction of the cloister. But in 1400 the monastery was attacked by Genoese pirates, commanded by one Salageri, who took the castle by assault, imprisoned the monks, and pillaged the monastery. These Corsairs kept possession of the castle for about a year, and were only got rid of by a general muster of the nobility of Provence, with their retainers. The invaders probably greatly destroyed the building; for we learn that after 1400 the cloisters, “L’Escalier tournant,” and other works were commenced, and carried on by one Gastolius de Grasse, who died in 1422. These facts indicate two periods of considerable operations at the castle, one in the beginning of the fourteenth and the other of the fifteenth century. Some of the caps (such as A, D, and E), which so strikingly resemble those of the cloisters of Thoronet, probably belong to the first of these periods; while others (like B) have been executed in imitation of them, but contain details which are undoubtedly of the period of the later work. The capital (B) and most of the bases are clearly of the fifteenth century; the style of the ogee and other mouldings, and the foliage of the griffes or claws at the angles and on the cap B, being of a late character. The form of the vaulting (Fig. 168), with its thin groins all dying away to one sharp point at the springing, and without caps or corbels to rest on, also corresponds with that date. The cloister arches are pointed, but have no mouldings. It was in 1394, shortly before the second of the above periods, that the body of St Honorat was

brought to the island from Forcalquier. Altogether, at this time the monastery seems to have been in great activity, and extensive works appear to have been then carried out at the castle. The portion adjoining the north side of the cloister was at that time extended, so as to form a projection to the northward, containing the “Escalier tournant” above mentioned. The elliptical arch of the doorway to this wheel-stair (see Fig. 166) is evidently a late work, and a wide joint or crack in the masonry, shewing the point from which the extension northward took place, can be distinctly seen in the exterior of the east wall (Fig. 169), where it extends from top to bottom of the castle. The style of the masonry of this portion is also smoother than the original work, which is left rough or “bossy” on the surface. The object of this addition has probably been to provide a space for a guard-room near the entrance to the castle with a wide staircase, and a broad platform on the roof for defensive purposes. Beneath the cloister is a large cistern or tank, stated by the AbbÉ Allier to have been constructed by Gastolius de Grasse early in the fifteenth century; it contains a supply of good water. A steep stair opposite the entrance door leads down to some small cellars, arranged in two storys (Fig. 170), under a portion only of the western part of the tower.

Ascending the “Escalier tournant,” the steps of which are four feet long, we arrive at the upper cloister (Fig. 171). This contains a gallery all round, with a parapet next the open court, on which stand twelve octagonal columns supporting as many pointed arches (Fig. 172). The whole is built in fine white marble, and the design is in the Italian-Gothic style, somewhat similar to that of the cloister arches at FrÉjus. Some of the shafts and caps are evidently restorations in imitation of older ones (Fig. 173).

Allier states that the arms of the Grimaldi family

FIG. 169. CASTLE OF ST HONORAT (from N.-E.)

could be traced on one side of this cloister, two members of that house having been Abbots commendatory of the LÉrins. This probably marks the date of the restoration—fifteenth century—but the original pillars seem to be at least a century older. Some of the tiles of the floor, which are of a plain red colour and square, still remain. Although the cloister is now roofed in over the first floor, the section (see Fig. 170) indicates that there was formerly a third story. The corbels in the wall to support the beams of the roof are distinctly visible. The roof may have formed a platform nearly on the level of the battlements. The two upper floors were not vaulted, but arches were thrown across at the four angles (see Fig. 172) against the outer wall so as to strengthen and steady the whole structure. On the first floor (Fig. 171) the northern addition forms a recess, covered with a plain circular vault, and lighted by a wide window provided with stone seats. The east projection also forms a recess with a small window and a locker in the wall. This was probably the sacristy, as it adjoins the chapel in the south wing.

The southern wing or projection seems to be of the same date as the original castle, and to have formed part

of it. On the ground floor it is covered with a plain semicircular tunnel vault similar in construction to that of the northern projection, but there is no indication on the exterior of there having been any extension of the masonry, such as above indicated at the northern end.

The first floor of the south wing contains the chapel, 25 feet by 26 feet with a groined vault about 28 feet high (see Fig. 170). The ribs are large and of a square section, and rest on plain corbels in the angles, the construction of the whole being very simple. The windows are small and have the same recesses deeply splayed towards the outside, as occur in the old part of the east wall in the upper cloister, and which indicate an early date.

The chapel was probably part of the original design, and was restored in the fourteenth century. We read that in 1342, the Abbot Geoffrey had the “choir” constructed in Toulon. This no doubt refers to a wooden gallery or stalls, which were then fitted up, but have now entirely disappeared.

The western portion of the castle was divided in the centre by a wall running east and west. The northern division seems to have contained the kitchen, and the other half the original refectory. The stone sink still exists in the kitchen window to the north. The windows looking to the west are small and high, the sill being stepped up. The upper floors in this wing would contain the dormitories, being provided with fireplaces and garderobes in the walls. But this part of the building was much altered in the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, and MÉrimÉe mentions that when he visited the Island in 1834, the place was divided up into small rooms with plaster partitions, and, he adds, “some of the chambers are still painted in the style of the eighteenth century, several of the panels over the doors representing shepherds and shepherdesses in the style of Van Loo, decorations one would scarcely look for amongst the monks.”

At a period subsequent to the original erection of the castle, the angle contained between the southern projection and the main building was enclosed with a wall and added to the structure. The walls of this addition are much thinner than the old ones, being only about 4 feet, while those of the original castle are from 8 to 10 feet thick. That this portion is an addition is evident from the style of the masonry of the old southern wall, which is visible in the interior of the extension, and corresponds with the rough ashlar of the exterior walls generally (see Fig. 174, right side).

The principal floor of this addition, entering off the lower cloister, was used as the refectory (Fig. 174). It is 47 feet long by 16 feet wide, and is roofed with a round tunnel vault strengthened with transverse ribs. This structure must belong to a comparatively late period—probably the fifteenth century—but it is noteworthy that the old ProvenÇal style of tunnel vaulting, strengthened with transverse ribs, having a simple ovalo for the string course or impost, and “cut off” corbels, is still maintained.

The custom of reading to the monks during meals by one of their number was evidently observed here, from the semi-circular recess or pulpit, raised a few steps above the floor, which is formed in the wall at the north-east angle.

The basement of this addition may have been used as cellars and stores, and was reached by a wheel stair in the thickness of the wall. The upper floor (now destroyed) was the library, which contained a large number of valuable MSS., now dispersed and lost.

At the restoration of the fifteenth century, the top of the castle on the sides next the land (Figs. 165 and 169) was crowned with a stone parapet projected on bold corbels, with wide machicolations or apertures for defence between them.

In 1524, and again in 1536, the castle was attacked and taken by the Spaniards, who, on the latter occasion, were commanded by the famous Genoese Captain Andrea Doria, on the part of Charles V. Some additional buildings were added by the Spaniards to render the castle more defensible according to the ideas of the sixteenth century. A narrow gangway only 4 to 5 feet wide was built, by which alone access could be obtained to the entrance doorway; and this was defended by a double doorway at its outer end, where also it could only be reached by a narrow stair placed at right angles. To the north of this was a ditch and drawbridge. An outer wall seems also to have enclosed the castle on the west side, and some additional buildings were erected at the south-west angle, but these have now almost entirely crumbled away.

This ancient ruin, so interesting historically and architecturally, is not less so artistically. Whether we regard the venerable aspect of the antique cloister or the rich golden colour of the exterior, contrasting so beautifully with the dark-green of the pines and the deep blue of the southern sea and sky, nothing could be more charming or delightful.

After the above dates the castle seems to have been garrisoned by the Crown of France, and was frequently taken and retaken by the Spaniards and the French. It was at this period that the Chapel of Ste TrinitÉ was heightened, and fortified with two cannons; while, at the same time, other batteries were erected at different points round the island.

Meanwhile the monastery had dwindled away, but the monks still retained their suzerainty over Cannes, Vallauris, Napoule, and other villages on the mainland. Finally, in 1788, the number of monks had become reduced to four, when, on the request of the Bishop of Grasse, the monastery was secularised. Thereafter the island has several times changed hands, and now it is occupied by a body of Cistertian Monks, who cultivate the soil and superintend an orphanage.

The adjoining island of Ste MarguÉrite has but little interest architecturally. The fort, which is built on the precipitous rock on the north side of the island, facing the Croisette point at the eastern extremity of the bay of Cannes, was erected by Richelieu. Scarcely finished, it was attacked and taken by the Spaniards in 1635, who enlarged it, and after being recovered by the French, was repaired by Vauban. The view of the castle from the Croisette is picturesque and pleasing (Fig. 175); but the only point worth inspecting close at hand is the prison in which the “man with the iron mask” was confined by Louis XIV. for seventeen years. The extreme thickness of the walls (above 12 feet), the window defended by three successive gratings in the depth of the wall, the double doors covered with iron studs and secured with iron bars, give some idea of the importance of that mysterious prisoner.

In the environs of Cannes there are numerous delightful walks and excursions amongst the olives and vines of the valleys, or by footpaths over the pine-clad hills. One of the most favourite of these is to the town of Vallauris, famous for its fine pottery ware. It may be reached by a road through a rocky valley, which branches off the main road to Antibes, at Golfe Juan, or by a footpath, forming a pleasant walk of some four miles across the hills, past the wayside chapel of St Antoine, which crowns the “col” between the two valleys. From this point a splendid view is obtained over Vallauris and its surrounding hills, above which, in the distance, rise the snowy peaks of the Maritime Alps. At Vallauris there still exists an interesting architectural relic, being the original chapel of the summer palace of the Abbot of the LÉrins. This residence, situated as it is amongst the hills some way inland from the sea, enjoys in summer a more temperate climate than the Island of St Honorat, which is said to be the hottest place in Provence. The property was acquired by the monastery in 1042, under a charter of Aldebert, Bishop of Antibes, and here the abbots built their seignorial castle. The chapel probably dates from the thirteenth century. The remainder of the palace was demolished in the end of the fourteenth century by a famous brigand, Raymond de Turenne, who devastated the whole coast of Provence. In the beginning of the sixteenth century one of the monks of the LÉrins, RÉgnier de Lascaris, rebuilt the town on a regular plan, with good streets placed at right angles, presenting a very striking contrast to the network of

narrow tortuous lanes which form the usual streets of ProvenÇal towns. The houses were constructed for the accommodation of the workmen employed at the celebrated potteries of the valley, which were well known even in Roman times, and are still of world-wide fame. The palace was probably rebuilt about the same time, and possesses some picturesque features (Fig. 176). The chapel is (Fig. 177) like that of Cannes, a simple nave,

31 feet long by 16 feet wide, with round apse about 10 feet deep. It is roofed in two bays (Fig. 178), with a pointed barrel-vault, having one square transverse rib in the centre, supported by a simple pilaster on each side, with a string course at the wall-head, and impost “cut off,” all as at the Mont du Chevalier. The apse is round, and has a pointed semi-dome instead of a round one, as at the latter. The windows are small and pointed, and have the deep external splay so common in all these buildings. There are two doors, also pointed, one of which enters at the south side from the castle court, and the other at the west end from the outside. The pointed arches in the doors and windows probably indicate a somewhat later date than the round ones of the “Mont du Chevalier.”

The chapel is now occupied as an oil mill.

A wide boulevard has recently been constructed, leading from the centre of Cannes straight northwards for a distance of about two miles, through the only ground near the town which is at all level, to the village of Le Cannet. Here an ancient machicolated tower (Fig. 179), called the “Maison du brigand” (now crowned with a

peaceful photographer’s studio), contrasts strangely with the new houses 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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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 Phoenicians 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,

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

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.

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.

In passing along the coast eastwards from Antibes a fine view is obtained on the right over the sea towards Nice, while on the other hand glimpses occur between the olive groves and up the valleys to the mountains beyond. The first of these openings, the valley of the Brague, shews the interesting old town of Biot in the distance, set as usual on a rocky height. A little further on the tower of the castle of Villeneuve-Loubet rises above the river Loup, and immediately thereafter the town of Cagnes bursts suddenly upon the view. This town consists as usual of a series of houses clustering in terraces round the sides of a detached and precipitous hill, crowned with an ancient castle on its summit. The station of Vence-Cagnes is easily reached by railway either from the direction of Nice or Cannes, and from it several pleasant excursions may be made to the places above referred to, which have just been passed, and also to the ancient towns of St Paul-du-Var and Vence, already mentioned.

Cagnes is a place of some industry, being the point of export for the products of the valleys of the Loup, the Malvan, and the Cagne. On leaving the railway station and approaching the town, the lower part of the hill on which it stands is seen to be richly clad with the dark green foliage of the orange trees, enlivened with their golden fruit, planted in stone-built terraces rising steeply one over the other up to the walls of the town.

Entering at the south end of the hill a steep and narrow street leads straight up to the top at the north end, where stands the old castle of the Grimaldis (Fig. 209). This is evidently an ancient structure, having the bold machicolated parapet of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. But it has been greatly altered in the seventeenth century, when large windows have been opened in the walls, the machicolations being in numerous places cut away to receive them (Fig. 210); while at the entrance front a wide outer staircase with double ramp and marble balustrade has been introduced leading up to a principal entrance doorway on the first floor. From this access is obtained to a small inner courtyard surrounded with Renaissance columns forming a staircase and corridor above of two storys in height, which, adorned as it is with beautiful plants by the present proprietor, has a peculiarly pleasing effect. Some of the apartments are finely decorated. That of the “Belle CheminÉe” has a sculptured marble fireplace and a ceiling painted with the fall of Phaeton, said to be by Carlowe. From the platform lying to the north of the chÂteau a magnificent view is obtained to the northward up the valley of the Malvan towards St Paul and Vence, and the lofty precipices of St Jeannot beyond, backed to the right with the snowy ridges of the distant Alps.

The nearest place of prominence from Cagnes is the Castle of Villeneuve-Loubet—about two miles to the north-west. This castle has been modernised and nearly rebuilt, but enough of the original work remains to render a visit very interesting. On nearing it, the edifice (Fig. 211) is seen to consist of a central castle strengthened with four towers at the angles, and surmounted by a lofty, quaint, and Moorish-looking watch-tower, the whole being enclosed with a strong wall of enceinte, defended with round towers at the angles (Fig. 212), provided with large port-holes for guns, and separated from the surrounding county by a deep ditch. The entrance gateway consists of an iron grating, guarded by two round towers, and furnished with a drawbridge over the moat. The round towers and walls of enceinte are by no means modern; they probably belong to the sixteenth century, but they have been shorn of their proud battlements, and thus present a very squat and subdued appearance.

The central castle is in part much more ancient, but also for the most part greatly altered and modernised. The

original plan was probably not dissimilar to the existing one, comprising a central courtyard with buildings surrounding it. The exterior walls are modern, but those of the interior of the courtyard are partly ancient, although altered. They are built with the rough-faced ashlar of the thirteenth century, and contain some decayed coats of arms on which may still be traced the lances of the Villeneuves and the star of Les Baux. Externally, the east face (Fig. 212) presents two noteworthy features in the apse of the chapel and the tall watch-tower. The chapel, although now converted into apartments, still retains the outlines and buttresses of an apse which seems to belong to the fifteenth century. The watch-tower is one of the most perfect examples of those characteristic features of the Maritime Alps. It is of the same nature as the keep towers we have met with at Cannes, Grasse, and Antibes, having the same rough ashlar facing, but instead of being square on plan like them, it has the eastern side projected in the form of a sharp angle (like the tower of La TrinitÉ in the same locality, to be described immediately, and of which a plan is given). The access to the top is by a narrow wheel-stair on the side next the quadrangle. The important point about the tower is that it preserves its battlemented top almost unaltered. It is carried up to the height of about 90 feet, and near the summit has several courses of a dark-coloured stone, which give it a Moorish or Italian character. These may at one time have been enriched with carving, of which one fancies some traces may still be observed, but they are so completely weather-worn that no forms can be distinguished. The level platform on the top is defended with a simple crenellated parapet without machicolations. From this lofty station a wide outlook could be kept over sea and land.

This castle and tower belonged in the thirteenth century to RomÉe de Villeneuve, the chief of that powerful family and the guardian of Beatrix, daughter of Raymond BÉranger IV., the last of the Counts of Provence of that line. It was through the marriage with the heiress Beatrix that Charles of Anjou, the brother of St Louis, succeeded to the title and estates of the Count of Provence. The estate was sold at a later period to the Lascares of Ventimiglia, and is now the property of the Count of la Panisse-Pacy. In 1538 this castle entertained an illustrious guest in the person of Francis I., who stayed here while Pope Paul III. carried on negotiations between him and Charles V. The latter had landed at Villefranche in order to meet the French king; but so great was the antipathy and distrust of the two monarchs for each other, that they could not be brought to encounter a personal interview. These negotiations ended in the signature, by Francis in the Castle of Villeneuve-Loubet, of the Treaty of Nice (See “The Maritime Alps and their Sea Board.”)

From the top of RomÉe de Villeneuve’s tower another similar tower is observed rising above the pine wood about a mile up the valley to the north-west. To reach it we descend from the castle so as to gain the bridge across the Loup, and in doing so the steep streets of the old town of Villeneuve, terraced in tiers on the slope of the

hill, are traversed, and the old church on its fine platform is passed on the left. The road up the valley is easy and agreeable, but the ascent of the conical hill, the summit of which is crowned with the tower of La TrinitÉ, is no light work. From a distance this tower looks like a lofty pedestal erected to support the colossal statue of the Virgin and child which now surmounts it. But on closer inspection it is found to be a remarkable example of a keep, defended with that accumulation of obstacles with which the old builders used to block up the access to their strongholds. After the steep hillside has been climbed, one finds himself at the base of the pointed rock on which the keep is set (Fig. 213). From here a sloping path leads up to the ruins of the chapel, of which only the vestiges of wall shewn in the sketch (Fig. 214), mingled with the scattered fragments of the font and other relics, now remain.

The ruins of a strong gateway in the outer walls which closed the access are passed just before reaching the chapel, and a lower bastioned terrace is continued round the northern part of the eminence at this level.

From the chapel, when one turns his eyes upwards to the tower (as in Fig. 214), he discovers such a series of winding stairs interrupted at frequent intervals with walls and gateways as must certainly have rendered a hostile approach in that direction impracticable, while perpendicular rocks and lofty walls made the access equally hopeless on the other sides. Besides this, on the side next the hill, which was perhaps the least invulnerable point, stands the keep (Fig. 215), strengthened with a projecting beak of similar form to that of the tower of RomÉe de Villeneuve. The lower story is original, and contained the doorway at the level of the top of the rock. This inaccessible point, on which there is a small platform, was probably reached by a rude stair cut in the rock (as indicated on the plan) and was defended with outworks, the approach to which was overlooked from the upper platform. The doorway, it will be observed, is placed on the opposite side of the tower from the platform, at a point where the foothold is narrow, and the door therefore all the more secure.

The upper portion of the tower dates from 1863, when, as the following inscription, which is carved on a marble slab let into the wall, announces, the old tower was reconstructed by the Comte and Comtesse de la Panisse-Pacy, and dedicated to the blessed Virgin:—

The tower alone has been restored in the manner shewn by the sketches; all the other portions remain undisturbed in their ruins. The rooms in the tower are only 10 ft. 6 in. long by 7 ft. wide, and there is no indication of any other habitation connected with the fort.

The place has all the appearance of a typical robber’s stronghold, and, as James V. said of a similar Scottish keep, “He that built it was a thief in his heart.” According to tradition, La TrinitÉ was originally a keep of the Templars. That order had extensive possessions in this part of Provence, and they may have erected this tower as a post for watching and giving notice of the approach of an enemy. After the suppression of the order La TrinitÉ passed into the possession of the Mathurins or Redfriars. They were also called the Order of the Trinity, and their special duty was to succour prisoners. The name of the tower may possibly have been derived from them. The chapel is 29 ft. long by 14 ft. wide, and the raised step at the east end is still traceable. The

walls have been about 8 ft. 6 in. high to the plain ovalo forming the string course from which sprung the semi-circular barrel vault of the roof. From the upper platform of the fortress a splendid view is obtained (Fig. 215), especially to the northwards, comprising St Paul-du-Var in the middle distance, and Vence backed by the towering precipices of St Jeannet. Beneath these stood the powerful Commandery of the Templars at St Martin (to be afterwards described), from which a signal at their watch-tower of La TrinitÉ would be easily observed.

From La TrinitÉ a rough footpath leads across the pine-clad hills to Biot, a distance of about two and a half miles as the crow flies, but about an hour’s walk over the heath-covered heights, and through the deep ravines which have to be traversed. Some extensive quarries are passed on the way at Les Aspres. After a hot tramp over these rocky and barren hills, it is refreshing to reach the fertile and cultivated valley of the Brague with its steep and terraced banks richly clad with olive and orange trees. A very steep descent leads to the bottom of the valley, from which the walls and towers of Biot are seen rising on the crest of the hill above (Fig. 216). This is one of the most primitive old towns in the district. A very circuitous post road has now been constructed up to it, but the old accesses by long flights of wide steps, on which the peasants and their mules are constantly ascending and descending, are still preserved, and are in their way amongst the most picturesque streets in the Riviera. Climbing patiently up flight after flight, and winding round the narrow streets, we at length reach the highest point, on which stands the church. The following inscription is carved in the interior wall:—“Hanc Ecclesiam consecravit Illus, primus et reveredismus Inxpo P.D.D. IsnÆdus D. Grassa Episcopus Grassen,

1472 [Image of round symbol unavailable.] DIE 19.
Janu.”

thus shewing that the church was consecrated by the bishop of Grasse at the above date. Some of the work corresponds with that period, e.g., the doorway in the west end (Fig. 217). But the south doorway (Fig. 217) has an earlier character. The exterior is all altered, and the interior has also been modernised in a very extraordinary manner, but some traces of the original building are still observable. Biot belonged to the Templars in 1247, and afterwards to the knights of Malta. In 1470 the bishop of Grasse brought hither forty-eight Genoese families, probably to help to re-people the town after the plague or some destructive assault of the Corsairs. This was evidently the occasion on which the bishop re-consecrated the church, which then no doubt required to

be to a great extent rebuilt. But some of it bears the signs of having been erected at an earlier date by the Templars. The plan (Fig. 218) is very unusual. A simple oblong divided into three aisles with three terminal apses such as we see here is common enough, but the plain round columns which separated the nave and aisles are very uncommon. The bases and caps are of a simple and early character (Fig. 219). The pillars are too light to have been intended to carry vaulting, and the original church would thus seem to have had a row of plain arches on each side, with perhaps a clerestory wall above supporting a wooden roof. The building would thus have originally the characteristics of a primitive basilica, somewhat like San Miniato at Florence (Fig. 33, p. 101). But this design has now been ingeniously altered and destroyed, and the whole character of the interior degraded from being one of the most interesting churches of Provence into a commonplace Renaissance chapel. By means of stucco the old round pillars have been converted on the side next the nave into flat

pilasters which are carried up and finished with Ionic caps, supporting an entablature which runs along each side of the church above the old arches. A groined vault in plaster springing from the top of the cornice is

thrown across the nave. The old pillars with their caps and bases have, however, been allowed to remain unchanged on the side next the aisles, where their archaic forms contrast strikingly with the modern plaster work on the other side. An attempt has been made to Italianise the apse also, but the pilasters and entablature fit lamely into the old apse. A wide flight of steps at the west end leads down from the doorway into the church, and has a rather peculiar effect. This no doubt arose from the irregularity of the site. To the west of the church lies the public place, surrounded with plain houses, all arcaded on the ground floor, and presenting a pleasing example of that picturesque feature of the towns of the Riviera. A walk of about three miles through the olive gardens of the valley of the Brague leads to the Antibes Railway station. Biot may of course be visited directly from the latter; there is a good carriage road.

One of the most delightful excursions from Cagnes is that to St Paul-du-Var, and Vence, two of the most interesting old towns of the Riviera. The distance to St Paul is from three to four miles, and to Vence two to three miles further. This may be accomplished either by driving or on foot. A carriage may be hired near the Cagnes Railway Station. The route in driving goes by a rather circuituous road round the west side of the valley of the Malvan, passing within a short distance of the castle of Villeneuve-Loubet. The most direct road is either along the base of the hill on which Cagnes stands, or through the town. For the pedestrian the latter is by far the most agreeable. Starting from the terrace of the old castle (already described), a rough footpath is followed along the ridge which separates the valley of the Malvan from that of the Cagne, and affords a delightful prospect of both. The rich colour of the russet leaves of the forest trees, mingled with the dark green of the pines and the grey tint of the olives, gives a special charm to the walk. Looking northwards the towns of La Gaude and St Jeannet stand out prominently on their rocky heights against the lofty and precipitous mountains immediately behind them; while in the distance the white peaks of the Maritime Alps close the valley of the Var. To the south there is a splendid view of Cagnes with the Mediterranean on the horizon. After half an hour’s walk the footpath joins the main road

opposite St Paul, and near the point where the mule path branches off to descend to the Malvan, before again ascending by a rough and steep track to the town. From the main road a fine view is obtained of St Paul (Fig. 220), surrounded with its massive walls, and standing on a detached promontory, with steep terraced slopes descending to the river. Other pleasing and varied prospects of the town and valley occur at intervals amongst the ancient olives in following the above footpath (Fig. 221). About half way up the path on the side next the town an outwork on a detached peak is passed, then a ruined fortification bars the road, and finally the ancient gateway and barbican, and the cemetery just outside the walls, are reached, and the main street of the town, which is but a narrow lane, is before us. The architectural interest of the place is at once apparent. On every hand are evidences of genuine ancient and

unaltered work. The doorways (Fig. 222) are of old and varied forms, almost every one having a panelled lintel, supported by corbels, many of the former containing carved shields and ornaments, and the latter being enriched with leaves and scrolls. Most of these doorways are of the beginning of the sixteenth century, and indicate early Renaissance work. Others again are carved and moulded with the double curvature of the late Gothic style, and a few shew marks of a simpler and earlier design (Figs. 223 and 224). The windows also contain many specimens of Gothic shafts and mullions, but they are much more altered than the doorways. Even the ancient woodwork of the latter is in many instances retained, and the unpainted oak or walnut give, in addition to the picturesque and fanciful designs, a rich and antique character. One of the most interesting points connected with the main, and almost the only street in the town, is the preservation of its

ancient shops. At almost every step one meets with the wide arch which contained both the door and window of the shop, the former being cut down to the door step, while the latter had the stonework built so as to form a sill about 2 feet high, on which the goods were exhibited. These sills are sometimes projected and moulded on the edge. At St Paul many of the shop fronts are now built up, but several are still in use (Fig. 223), and when piled up with their complex store of vegetables and fruits, mixed with the quaint and richly coloured jars of the country, present very tempting subjects for the artist. The street floor

of the houses adjoining the north gateway (Fig. 226) is amongst the oldest and least altered examples. Numerous narrow lanes branch off the main street and descend by steps and arcades to the roads which run round the walls. In other cases arches are thrown across the street, and picturesque effects are thus produced (Figs. 225 and 227). Most of the buildings in the main street date from the time of Francis I. After the destructive invasion of Provence by Charles V., Francis found that his frontier in this quarter was insufficiently protected, and employed an engineer from Arles called Mandon to inspect the locality and fix on the best site for a fortress. Mandon chose the isolated hill on which stood the ancient town of St Paul as the best suited for this purpose; and it was accordingly fortified and surrounded with the walls and bastions which still subsist almost in their entirety. St Paul was thus raised into a place of some importance and security, and became the residence of a governor and several families of distinction. This no doubt led to the improvement of the architecture of which we have seen so many examples. Of the town houses of the governor and nobility some specimens still remain—one well preserved mansion of a somewhat later period is seen in sketch, Fig 225, and relics of others are also to be found, though in a sadly degraded and dilapidated state.

In the Maison Suraire (formerly Du Port), remains of ancient magnificence still exist in two richly decorated mantelpieces, of which Fig. 228 is one.

The original staircase of this house is also still in use; its richly-carved and ornamental balustrade of marble (Fig. 229) forming a strange contrast with its present humble position as an access to peasants’ houses. The mode of junction of the pedestals at the turn of the staircase by placing a boldly cut lion rampant between them is novel and effective.

This house stands in the very diminutive and only little “place” in the town, where also is the fountain, and whence branches off the way to the church, which stands on the highest point of the site. The main street, and all the side alleys, are but continuations of the mule paths of the country, interrupted here and there with steps, and all too narrow to admit a cart or carriage of any kind. They are thus often so completely swept by the loads of firewood and brushwood on the mules’ backs, that passengers have to seek shelter in the recesses of the doorways. The walks round the walls are in part wider, and the small gardens of the houses sloping down to them, with the dark foliage and golden fruit of their orange groves, form a fine foreground to the lovely prospects visible in every direction.

The gateway (Fig. 230) at the entrance to the town from the north has an older character than the fortifications of Mandon. This gateway seems to have formed the ancient entrance through a square tower placed for defence on the neck of land which joins the promontory to the mainland. It presents the same character as the square gate towers of Avignon, having a plain pointed archway and portcullis groove on the exterior, defended by a machicolated parapet above, the interior of the tower being left open towards the town, so that, if captured, it could not be turned to account against it (see Fig. 226).

This tower has been incorporated by Mandon in his works, and is strengthened externally by a bastion with another portcullis, and a narrow passage commanded from above.

But St Paul possesses memorials of a much older time even than this fourteenth century tower, in the ancient church and keep which crown the summit of its rocky site. The church is a small but remarkable monument. Externally the west front (Fig. 231) shews a central portion of plain ashlar work, with a simple pointed doorway, and a small pointed window above. There are also some corbels remaining, which probably supported the wall plate of the lean-to roof of an outer porch or narthex. The adjoining walls at the sides, and above the corbels, are all evidently much more modern than the central portion. The lofty square tower attached to this front appears, from an inscription it bears, to have been erected in the seventeenth century. On entering the building, the lowness of the central nave (Fig. 232), and the extreme simplicity of its construction and vaulting, are seen to correspond with the style of the central part of the exterior. The plain character of the whole recalls the work of the early Cistertian school. The church has probably been originally a simple nave, like FrÉjus on a small scale. The aisles appear to have been added afterwards, the side walls having been cut through to give access to them (see Plan, Fig. 233). But so devoid is the building of ornament or features whereby a date may be determined, that the aisles may possibly have been original, although altered at a later date. The vaulting of the aisles, with its rounded or octagonal ribs, is certainly of more recent date than the plain intersecting vault without ribs of the central nave.

Close to the church stands a very interesting example of the tower-built keeps of the Maritime Alps (Fig. 234). It is similar in general character to those of the Mont

du Chevalier, Grasse, and Antibes, but has some peculiar and remarkable features of its own. The original masonry is of the usual rough-faced kind, but it has been repaired in several places with work of a smoother description. The top has evidently been modernised, and is covered with a tile roof instead of the proper crenellated parapet. Windows of an antique character are provided to light the apartments on the upper floors, instead of mere square holes in the wall like those of the Tour du Chevalier. Indeed, this keep seems to have been more of a habitation than the others we have met with, and was apparently connected with an ancient building of the same description of masonry, a few remains of which are visible to the left in the sketch. But the most remarkable features about this tower are the entrances and their defences. The lowest doorway is on the first floor level.

It is semi-circular and is now built up. This doorway seems to have given access only to a guardroom on the first floor, from which the vaulted basement would be entered in the usual manner by an aperture in the floor. At the level of the doorway there was evidently a wooden platform projected outside of the door, from which a wooden overhanging stair led up to the chief entrance to the principal apartments of the keep on the floor above. The stone-work shews a projecting ledge at the line of junction of the wooden stair with the wall. The corbels, which supported a level platform above this stair, still remain, and it will be observed that there is no corbel opposite the place where the stair would pass through, as no floor would be required at that point.

The two string courses on the next floor were no doubt inserted, one for the purpose of carrying the struts of a sloping roof, and the other to cover the junction of the roof with the stone-work. Although partly cut away, these strings are yet fairly preserved. The sloping roof

FIG. 232. CHURCH OF ST PAUL-DU-VAR.

would cover the wooden gallery or hoarding which, we have seen, protected the principal doorways and staircase.

The outer approaches to this keep were thus most carefully defended. An assailant, who managed by scaling ladders to get up to the first floor or guardroom level and overpower the guard, would find no access from the interior to the upper floors. To reach these he would have to climb a steep stair, enclosed within a wooden casing with trapdoor shut, and would thus be exposed to attack with all kinds of missiles from the platform above, where the defenders stood within the shelter of their projecting hoarding or gallery.

A somewhat similar wooden balcony for the defence of the doorway existed at Preston Tower in Scotland, but so far as we have observed, that of St Paul is quite unique in the Riviera. The refinement shewn, both in the defensive features and in the windows of this tower, indicate a somewhat later date than those of Cannes or Antibes. The defensive works here correspond with the hoardings so common in France in the thirteenth century, such as those at Carcassonne and Aigues Mortes.

Vence.—A walk of about three miles along a good road gradually ascends from St Paul to Vence on either side of the Malvan Valley. That on the eastern side is the nearer, if the direct old mule path is taken about a mile from Vence, instead of the carefully engineered but winding modern roadway. Should the visit be made in December or January, a fine opportunity will probably present itself of witnessing the olive harvest on the way. Large sheets are spread out into which the ripe blackberries are showered down by shaking the branches. Men, women, and children all unite to expedite the work, and help to gather up the fruit which may have dropped upon the ground.

The road on the western side of the valley is more winding than the other, in consequence of a great gorge in the rocky mountain side having to be compassed and crossed. The descent to the point, where bridging it is practicable, also adds to the length and steepness of the ascent to the town. But the rugged way is interesting, the rocks being full of natural caves, evidently the result of the waves of a previous geological epoch. The town consists of two distinct parts—the old town enclosed within a circular or oval enceinte (now represented by a line of houses), and a circle of houses built outside the ancient ramparts. The position of the latter is now occupied by a wide street or boulevard running all round between the old and new divisions. One or two ancient gateways (similar to that of Mougins, Fig. 182) are still preserved, but they are small and unimportant. In the narrow streets specimens of old shop fronts, like those of St Paul, may be detected here and there, and in the newer part of the town some fair Renaissance designs are observable in the houses, that of the HÔtel de Ville being the finest.

Vence is a very ancient city. It was the Ventium of Roman times, of which period numerous inscriptions and relics are preserved and built into the northern wall of the cathedral. In mediÆval times Vence was originally the see of a bishop, but was afterwards joined to that of FrÉjus. The town suffered the usual casualties from the attacks of the Saracens and assaults during the wars of

religion. The cathedral, which is evidently very old, is supposed to have been rebuilt after the destruction of the original one by the Saracens in the ninth or tenth centuries. Owing to the simplicity of its style internally (Fig. 235), it has a most archaic appearance. Unfortunately, the exterior cannot be well seen in consequence of the chapels, houses, &c., which are built against it. Originally the church has consisted (Fig. 236) of a central nave 18 ft. 6 in. wide, with two side aisles each about 10 ft. wide. The chapels shewn projecting beyond the aisles are comparatively modern, and are lighted from the roof. The nave piers are (as regards design) simply portions of the side walls left standing, while the remainder is omitted so as to form round arched openings into the aisles. The side aisles are carried (as was often done) to a sufficient height to abut the central vault of the nave, and are divided into two storys—the upper story being a gallery—an arrangement very common in Lombardy and Germany. A more total absence of anything like ornament can scarcely be conceived. This plainness, taken in conjunction with the somewhat similar work at St Paul’s, seems to indicate that the design here owes its origin to the reign of the early Cistertian principles in the twelfth century. The choir and the tower at the north-east angle (Fig. 237) are evidently of a more recent date. The choir, with its circular apsidal termination, internally, converted into a square east end externally, is somewhat remarkable. It may be observed that the eastern termination of the churches of Antibes and St Paul are also square externally. There is a certain Italian character about the east end of Vence Cathedral with its single very small pointed window and its cornice enriched with modillions. The impost of the eastern door (Fig. 236) is also quite Italian, and judging from the style of this part of the church, it probably belongs to the thirteenth century.

The campanile adjoining the church likewise recalls those of the Italian cities. At Vence, as at Antibes, there are two such towers or keeps for defence, one being

attached to the church, while the other was formerly connected with the castle, and now with the HÔtel de Ville (see Fig. 242). The ground floor of the former tower enters from the church, and forms a chapel where are deposited two very finely carved Gothic doors, which no doubt once served as the doors to the church. The font (Fig. 238) stands in a small chapel at the west end. Its design is peculiar and striking, and it is said to be very ancient. Adjoining the cathedral on the north are some ruinous remnants of the bishop’s palace, now converted into other uses (Fig. 239). In the “place” at the east end of the cathedral (see Fig. 237) stands a granite column raised on a pedestal, and said to have been the gift of the city of Massilia to her sister of Vence. In the same place some picturesque fragments of old houses are still preserved (Fig. 240), the late Gothic doorway on the right being given on a larger scale in Fig. 241.

There are several small “places” in the old town all containing a few relics of olden times. The tower of the Consuls (for Vence, like the other towns in the province, had her consuls and an independent government), has already been mentioned, and is shewn in Fig. 242, adjoining a gateway leading into a “place” with a fountain on one side, and the HÔtel de Ville on the other. This tower is of the same style of masonry as those we have met with in other towns, but it is now cut up into shops and houses, and has lost its primitive features.

From the wide terrace in front of the HÔtel de Ville, a magnificent view is obtained of the mountains to the northwards. At the base of their lofty precipices the ruins of the Commandery of St Martin may be observed. It seems to be a very short way off, but is found to be a good half hour’s walk and a stiff climb. However, the trouble is repaid, for the view presented, when the lofty point on which the Commandery stands is attained, is magnificent, extending over Vence, St Paul, and Cagnes to the sea, and embracing the whole coast from the Cap d’Antibes to the headlands beyond Nice. The Commandery itself is a shapeless ruin (Fig. 243). The eastern wall and the great gateway, with its wide machicolation in the style of the Pope’s palace, are the only parts sufficiently entire to

give any indication of the nature of the buildings, which from these seem rather to have resembled a castle than a monastery. This was the chief house of the Templars in the district, and overlooked numerous and extensive lands with which the order was enriched. The tower of La TrinitÉ, as already mentioned, formed one of the outlying forts of the Templars, and is well seen from the Commandery. When violent hands were laid upon the order by Philip the Fair, Hugorian was Master of St Martin-les-Vence. He was seized in 1308, and carried off to prison in Tarascon. This country was then under the dominion of Charles II. of Naples and Duke of Provence, whom Philip had persuaded to join in the destruction of the Templars. But in Provence the greater number of the Knights were allowed to escape, only forty-eight in all being captured. Their lands were chiefly bestowed on the Knights Hospitallers, who thus acquired great possessions in this part of Provence.

A short railway journey conducts from Vence-Cagnes to Nice, across the Var, the “dyke” or wall which keeps the floods of this impetuous river within bounds being one of the most notable of French Engineering Works. The existing town of Nice is almost entirely modern. The streets, with their rows of shops and lines of trees, look like a small piece of Paris transported to the south. The wide promenade des Anglais by the shore, however, commands a prospect which nothing in Paris can match. The old town, with its narrow streets crowded round the port, is of ancient origin, being one of the original PhocÆan colonies, and in the modern “Nice” may still be recognised its original Greek name of Nike (victory). But it became a place of secondary importance under the Romans, who made Cemenelum, an ancient town of the Ligurians on the hill which overlooks Nice from the north, the chief city of the Maritime Alps, to which Nice acted merely as the port. Being so near the frontier, both Cemenelum and Nice were exposed to attack on all hands, and suffered severely from the invasions of the Barbarians. In 578 the Lombards destroyed the strong city of Cemenelum or CimiÈs, an event which, to some extent, restored the ancient importance of Nice. In 617 Nice joined the other towns of the coast in a league to free themselves from the Frankish kings. The town was frequently attacked by the Saracens, and more than once taken and destroyed. But after the Moors were driven from the Great Fraxinet in 975, the inhabitants of the town were comparatively free from their inroads. Although Nice stoutly defended her independence, she was, like the other towns of Provence, forced to yield to the Counts of Provence, who rebuilt the Castle both as a defence and menace to the inhabitants. Charles of Anjou was greatly indebted to Nice for ships to enable him to carry out his designs upon Naples. The incessant struggles between the powerful Nobles in the neighbourhood, the Grimaldi of Monaco, the Lascaris of Tende, and the Dorias of Dolce Aqua devastated the land, and brought famine and plague in their train. In the wars which followed the death of Queen Jeanne, the NiÇois took the side of Ladislaus of Hungary, and called in the Count of Savoy to aid them against the King of Naples. Under the protection of Savoy, Nice soon regained her prosperity. The Counts of that house strengthened the Castle by every means in their power, and for this purpose the ancient Cathedral and Bishop’s Palace were removed.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Nice was exposed to damage from the armies both of the French and the Emperor, and suffered severely—so much so that the merest fragment is all that remains of the ancient castle

which gallantly withstood so many sieges, and not a single ancient building is preserved.

The environs of Nice, although full of natural beauties, are remarkably destitute of architectural interest. The few Roman relics at Cemenelum have already been described. Near these is an old convent, where from the churchyard a fine view of the lofty and rugged banks of the valley of the Paillon (which runs through Nice) may be obtained. In the Parvis in front stands a remarkable cross (Fig. 244), bearing the image of the crucified seraph who appeared to St Francis of Assisi. The cross bears a quatrefoil on each of its three upper points, with the figure of a Bishop and a Monk carved in the side quatrefoils, and that of the emblematic Pelican on her nest feeding her young in the top quatrefoil. The cross is supported on a twisted marble shaft, some 9 or 10 feet high, having a composite capital, containing a shield bearing the arms of the founder. An inscription runs along the abacus, in which 1477 is legible. This date quite corresponds with the character of the design.

Descending by a steep mule path from the height of CimiÈs to the valley of the Paillon past some great monasteries, or similar establishments, including that of St Pons, all surrounded with walls and studded with cypresses, we reach the high road. Following this road for three miles up the valley brings us in view of the Castle of St AndrÉ, the sketch of which (Fig. 245) gives some idea of the nature of the scenery. Passing through the village of St AndrÉ, and penetrating a short way further up the gorge of the torrent of the same name, Falicon is reached, famous for its grotto and natural bridge. The view looking back upon St AndrÉ (Fig. 246) is strikingly picturesque.

From Nice the railway proceeds eastwards by a long tunnel under the ridge, formerly dominated by the old Castle, on emerging from which we find ourselves in one of the most charming scenes in the Riviera, the land-locked bay of Villefranche. On the margin of this sheltered and beautiful arm of the sea stands the old “Free-town,” surrounded with fortifications, and reflected in the quiet waters, on which, too, there are generally afloat one or two majestic representatives of foreign fleets. Between this and Monaco the railway passes along the narrow strip of shore which lies between the sea and the lofty precipices of tertiary limestone which here tower above it. At one of the sharp turns round the rocks, a first distant glimpse is caught of the old town and Castle of Eza (Fig. 247), set like an eyrie on the summit of its bare and lofty pyramidal peak. There is a railway station at the base of the mountain, and one feels tempted to alight and scale

the height, the buildings look so enticingly picturesque. But it is no easy task; there is scarcely any track for part of the way, and when visible, the path is rough and full of running stones, as well as steep and winding. One is glad to take a rest occasionally, and enjoy the various fine views of the town on its lofty pinnacle, and the extensive seaboard visible from this elevation. Fig. 248 gives some idea of the character of one of these prospects. When at last the ascent is scaled, the result, as regards the architecture, is, it must be confessed, on the whole rather disappointing. The entrance gateway to the town is interesting from the remarkable and strong way in which its defences are

arranged. The outer approach (Fig. 249) is by a passage faced by a cannon port-hole. From this access a gate at right angles leads to a second narrow enclosed passage commanded by a machicolated tower, through which a winding and ascending vaulted way conducts into the town (Fig. 250.)) The view of the interior of this gateway is very picturesque (Fig. 251.)) The town itself consists of a few narrow tortuous lanes bordered by decaying houses, chiefly tenanted by donkeys, pigs, and poultry. On the top of the bare rock, and approached by great steps cut in the solid limestone, a few scanty and unintelligible fragments of the castle are yet visible, but the greater portion has been entirely swept away.

Eza was the Arisium of Antonine’s Itinerary, and it formed, like Gourdon, during mediÆval times, a pretty secure retreat from the assaults of the Corsairs. The castle was, however, demolished by the Turks under Barbarossa in 1543. The arcaded tower house, and the door lintel, shewn in Figs. 252 and 253, were the only objects of architectural interest discoverable in the place.

Between Eza and Monaco the railway continues to run along the base of the immense cliffs which overhang the sea, or through the frequent tunnels which penetrate them. One station short of Monaco we arrive at that for La Turbie; from which, by a very steep and zig-zag path, one may ascend the bare and nearly vertical hill above the railway, whence a pleasant walk of a mile or two through the pine forest leads to the town of La Turbie. This elevated situation is, however, more easily approached by a long well-paved but steep mule-path from Monaco. The

monument to Augustus, which here marks the limit between Gaul and Italy, has already been described (ante, p. 87). This monument has provided a quarry, out of which the more important buildings of the town have been constructed. This is apparent from the great size of the stones used in the erection of the outer gateway to the

south (Fig. 254.)) Passing through this archway, an inner encircling street is entered, from which another picturesque and pointed gateway (Fig. 255) gives access to the centre of the town. There is also a third gateway of pointed form, with a long machicolation over it at the eastern entrance (Fig. 256), and some further fragments of the olden time are to be seen in the streets (Fig. 257). The great trophy of Augustus, from which the place derives its name, was converted in mediÆval

times into a fortress, when the upper part has been rebuilt. The double tier of pointed arcade-ornaments (Fig. 32), which formed the support of the parapet, have quite an Italian character. They remind one of the similar ornament on Grasse Cathedral. This tower was blown up by Marshal Villars at the end of the seventeenth century.

In descending by the steep and well-paved footpath from La Turbie to Monaco, delightful glimpses are obtained from amongst the luxuriant olives and citrons of the latter town on its isolated rock. Most of the towns on the sea-board have a prominent rock for their site, but that on which Monaco is built is the most detached and sea-girt of them all. It is of considerable height, and has perpendicular faces on all sides. On three sides these plunge sheer down into the sea, and on the fourth or northern side of the peninsula the precipitous rock is only joined to the mainland by a narrow strip of low-lying sandy beach. On the inaccessible platform above these precipices stands the ancient town, surrounded with its walls and bastions, and giving shelter and protection to the quiet harbour on its eastern flank. Of all these features we have a commanding prospect as we descend from the heights of the Cornice road, which passes by La Turbie.

The history or traditions of Monaco extend further back than those of most of the localities of the Riviera. It derives its name from Hercules, who is supposed to have touched here on his way into Spain, and to have gained a great victory over the native tribes. Hence the name of Portus Herculis, by which the place was known in the early centuries of our era. This was afterwards changed to Portus Herculis Monoeci, and finally into Monaco. The rocky fortress subsequently fell into the hands of the Saracens, who are said to have been expelled from it in the tenth century by the same Grimoald or Grimaldi who dislodged the Moors from the Grand Fraxinet, and whose successors became the Princes of Monaco.

In the eleventh century the place seems to have been abandoned, and in 1162 the Emperor Frederick I. presented it to the Republic of Genoa, who took possession, and rebuilt the fortifications in 1215. During the struggles of the Italian Republics, and the wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, Monaco several times changed hands, but was most frequently in the possession of the Grimaldi, and sometimes became the shelter of bands of pirates who scoured the Mediterranean. The Grimaldi sided with the French in the Italian wars of Charles VIII. and Louis XII., and through the influence of the latter became the governors of the whole of the Western Riviera.

During the struggle between France and Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Monaco was alternately under the protection of each. The boundaries of the principality then included Mentone and Roquebrune, but in 1848 Mentone declared itself a free town. Since the annexation of the county of Nice by France, the principality, which is about three miles long by about half a mile wide, is entirely surrounded by the French Canton of “Menton.”

A comparatively easy drive to the town has now been made up the east side of the rock, but the original approach was by a steep flight of steps, carefully defended with strongly fortified gates, and commanded by the battlements above (see sketch, Fig. 258). The existing works at this point are evidently of the seventeenth century. The north side, which overlooks the mainland, was fortified with a large circular bastion at the western angle (Fig. 259), and a square one at the eastern angle. The former still retains some of the large corbels which carried the original parapet of the fifteenth century; but the bastions have been heightened and made suitable for artillery at a later date. On arriving at the top of the entrance to the town, a wide open staircase ascends to the front of the Ducal Palace (Fig. 258). This edifice is a picturesque assemblage of buildings of several dates, chiefly of the Renaissance period. Some of the old towers retain their forked battlements, a form common in the North of Italy. The whole place is vast and palatial, and from its lofty site and splendid background, composed of a rugged mountain called the TÊte de

Chien, has a noble and impressive appearance. The courtyard of the palace is also a fine though somewhat peculiar specimen of Italian design, the fresco paintings on the walls giving it a rich and southern aspect.

The town consists of three parallel streets, and contains some good bits of old work. A large new church in the early Romanesque or ProvenÇal style of architecture has recently been erected. The old church contained specimens of capitals, and other details very similar to those of the lower arcade in the Castle of St Honorat. The gardens of the palace, which extend round the western side of the rock, where every chink and crevice is filled with fig trees, aloes, pears, and palms, form a delightful promenade; and the views from the walls towards Monte Carlo and Mentone,

with the mountain ranges behind them, are most charming. Only a few miles off (about an hour’s walk) the remark remarkable town of Roquebrune is seen embosomed in orange groves on the slope of the mountain. The ascent from the railway station is by a steep and narrow path, which penetrates into the town by a long vaulted and stepped passage, the entrance to which is through a small arched gateway, defended by a wide overhanging machicolation (Fig. 260). The church of St Margaret is then reached, in which the old font (Fig. 261) is worthy of note. The peculiarity of this town arises from the huge masses of rock which stand up amongst the houses, and at a short distance present the appearance of a great castle. These give the town its name, and one of them, larger than the rest, is actually crowned with the remains of the ancient fortress of the Lascaris (Fig. 262), which, however, is now but an empty shell. One or two open “places” amongst the great rocks form beautiful terraces, commanding fine and extensive prospects.

The railway, after leaving Roquebrune, sweeps round the Cap Martin, and enters the bay of Mentone, which is only about four miles off. This town, like all the others on the coast, had its castle on the summit of a promontory which juts out into the sea, and divides the coast into two portions, called the eastern and western bays. The Counts of Ventimiglia and the Genoese had, at different times, possession of the town and castle, but it was for the most part an appanage of Monaco, and followed its fortunes. In 1848 the inhabitants formed themselves into a free Republic, and enjoyed autonomy for thirteen years, after which Mentone became the “chef lieu” of a French Canton. The town was at one time surrounded with walls, which rose straight up from the sea. It thus completely occupied

the narrow strip of land between the shore and the hill on which the castle stood, and barred the way along the coast. The eastern gate of the town, and the “Long Street,” which is also a very narrow one, leading through it, still remain, but a new and wider roadway, which forms part of the Cornice Road, has been constructed along the back of the houses in the eastern bay, and now encloses the harbour on the side next the town. An old square tower at the extreme point of the promontory is one of the few relics of the fortifications of the town. Above the “Long Street” the houses are built in terraces, rising rapidly tier above tier on the hillsides, and approached by long flights of steps and narrow vaulted lanes. In the midst of these stand the churches, buildings of the seventeenth century, of clumsy character. The towers and spires, however, form a picturesque group (Fig. 263); and along with the houses, as seen from the harbour, together with the magnificent background of lofty and partly snow-clad mountains which shelter Mentone on the north, they compose a splendid picture.

The old castle which formerly crowned the summit, has been entirely demolished, and its site is occupied as a cemetery, from which very fine views are obtained both of the coast line and of the mountains on the north. Numerous narrow valleys and gorges run up from the sea towards the mountains, forming beautiful and interesting promenades and excursions, but there is little to attract the student of architecture.

At Gorbio, beautifully situated about five miles from Mentone to the west, and some distance up a charming valley, there are an old church with a dark nave, and the remains of a castle of the Lascaris. The houses here are united by arches thrown across the narrow streets, an arrangement very common in this district, and supposed to be for the purpose of resisting to some extent the effect of earthquakes.

Ste AgnÈs, not far from Gorbio, is also a favourite excursion. It is a lofty and beautiful spot, with the remains of an old castle said to be of Saracenic origin.

The ascent to Castellar forms another delightful walk of about an hour and a-half, giving a fine idea of the richness of the valleys of Mentone in lemons, in the growth of which they excel every place north of Palermo. The town of Castellar is of some extent, and its situation on a “col” at the top of a steep ascent is fine, but there is no architecture of importance. It is clumsily built, and has been at one time surrounded with walls, which now form the exterior of houses. Some remains of ditches and towers—one of the latter being converted into the belfry of the church—also still exist.

About a mile eastwards from Mentone the Cornice Road crosses by the bold arch of the Pont St Louis the ravine which now forms the boundary between France and Italy. Since 1861 the limits of France have been extended considerably further eastwards than in ancient times, when La Turbie marked the boundary of Gaul. In the course of our journey we have observed that as we approach the frontier, the towns possess a good deal of the Italian character, and that both historically and architecturally they have much in common with Italy. The architectural styles of France and Italy were observed to overlap each other in the district we have just examined. But when we pass the modern boundary of France at the Pont St Louis, we may

be said to have left nearly all trace of French and ProvenÇal architecture behind, and in our further progress eastwards we shall meet with almost nothing which is not entirely Italian in style. We shall therefore in concluding our journey give only a rapid sketch of some of the more important buildings between Mentone and Genoa.

The railway eastwards from Mentone follows the coast line, and cuts through some lofty rocks at the mouth of the

torrent of St Louis, famous from containing the caves in which have been discovered human remains, associated with the bones of extinct animals, such as the mammoth, the great bear, the elk, &c.

About seven miles from Mentone, the line passes

FIG. 269. STREET IN SAN REMO.

through a tunnel, on emerging from which the frontier town of Ventimiglia is seen towering above the plain of the river Roya. It stands on a bold rocky headland, defended on one side by the sea, and on the other by the river. Like all border towns, its possession was constantly disputed by the neighbouring suzerains, and it endured many sieges, but was generally under the authority of the town of Genoa. The streets are narrow and tortuous, and have the usual picturesque staircases and arches. The porch of the cathedral seen in the sketch (Fig. 264) is old, and is decidedly Italian in character, but the rest of the front is modern. The interior again (Fig. 265) might be a ProvenÇal Cistertian design, such as that of Thoronet.

Two miles eastwards from Ventimiglia, the valley of the Nervia opens to the left. An easy and agreeable walk of about five miles up the valley leads to the very quaint old town of Dolce Aqua. On the way we pass through the decaying but picturesque town of Campo Rosso with an open “place” lined with arcaded footways.

The most ancient part of Dolce Aqua lies on the left side of the river, which is crossed by an old bridge of one span, having the roadway stepped up on each side, and showing traces of old fortifications. Above this the houses rise in tiers, forming a dense and confused labyrinth of narrow lanes and dark tunnels—many of the former

crossed by strengthening arches thrown between the houses on each side (Fig. 266). Dominating the whole stand the proud ruins of the castle of the Dorias (Fig. 267), a family famous in the history of Genoa and the Riviera. It is a building of a late date (seventeenth century), and has been defended with great bastions mounted with cannons (Fig. 268), surrounded with walls, and provided with a drawbridge. The castle has evidently contained large and sumptuous apartments, but the interior is now reduced to total ruin. The town has also been provided with fortifications, of which one tower near the river has been appropriated and heightened into a church steeple (Fig. 268). The castle has been abandoned since the wars of 1748, and the descendants of the Dorias now occupy a mansion, situated under the walls, in which there is a finely carved chimney piece, and an interesting collection of family portraits. The town of Pigna, about ten miles further up the valley, is said to contain a good church of the fifteenth century, with pointed arches, and a fine painting of the sixteenth century.

Passing the ancient republic of Bordighera, with its arcaded streets and splendid palm gardens, we soon reach San Remo. This ancient town, originally independent, came ultimately, like the rest of the Riviera, under the authority of Genoa. It consists as usual of one principal street along the narrow strip of ground between the base

of the hill on which the old town stands and the sea. The town consists of the ordinary pile of terraced houses with narrow tortuous streets and steep flights of steps leading up to them. There is here an extraordinary profusion of the arches, of which we have met with examples elsewhere, thrown across the narrow streets, in order to strengthen the houses against the shocks of earthquake to which this region is liable. These features sometime produce, together with the stairs and tall houses, extraordinary combinations and effects (Figs. 269 and 270).

The cathedral of San Siro, which stands detached in a small “place,” has some good Italian features still preserved,—amongst which are the north and south doorways (Fig. 271), the remainder having been greatly modernised and spoiled.

In the main street there are some fair specimens of Renaissance palaces, somewhat in the style of those of Genoa.

From the railway station of Arma di Taggia, some miles east of San Remo, an expedition may be made about five miles up the valley to the exquisitely quaint old town of Taggia. It concentrates in itself all the various remarkable features of the towns of the Riviera in its arcaded streets and vaulted footpaths, narrow lanes crossed with arches, and approached by steep stairs and dark tunnels; and these features are here all combined in so profuse and picturesque a manner as to present an epitome of those of all the rest. In the midst of these striking general

effects, so captivating to the artist, it is difficult, however, to pick out anything which may be regarded as really good architecture. Fig. 272 gives some idea of the picturesqueness of the arcaded streets and gateways, while Figs. 273 and 274 give a few good architectural details. The first (Fig. 273) might, from its style, be the lintel of any fifteenth century house in Genoa (a splendid example of a similar style of doorway at Genoa being shown in Fig. 281), and the other (Fig. 274) is a Renaissance doorway in black marble ornamented with raised arabesques. Close to the town is the monastery of San Cristofero, where the ancient cloister and tower (Fig. 275) are good specimens of early Italian work. The vaulting of

the cloister is late, the original roof being probably of timber. The tower is a good Italian campanile, with string courses of the arcaded ornament so common in Lombardy and the Rhineland.

We are now in the centre of the district which suffered so severely from the earthquakes of 1887. Bussana is passed on the right in returning to the railway. The towns of Porto Maurizio (which stands on a solitary rock), Oneglia, and Diano Marina, all names too well known in connection with the above catastrophe, are reached in succession before arriving at Alassio, the furthest east of the health resorts of the Riviera. The tower of the church here (Fig. 276) has the usual form of the Italian campanile.

A few miles further east bring us to Albenga, which is, architecturally speaking, the most interesting town on this part of the coast. It lies in a hollow near the mouth of the river Acosia, and is defended from the cold winds of the North by an amphitheatre of lofty, snow-clad mountains. The general view of the town from the

railway station (Fig. 278) shews the peculiar preponderance of square towers for which it is remarkable. On closer inspection these are found to be no less surprising than when seen from a distance. They are generally quite plain and are built of brick. The view of the west end of the church (Fig. 277) shews four of these towers crowded close together, exhibiting examples of several different designs. That over the north entrance to the church has a strong resemblance to the campaniles of Lombardy, such as that of Mantua, and is thoroughly Italian in every detail, while the plain square towers adjoining recall similar examples at Bologna and elsewhere in Italy. That again at the east end of the church, which has the figure of the lion at its base (Fig. 279), with its plain brick shaft, its triple arcaded top, and fork-shaped battlements, is almost identical with those of Verona. The church has originally been an Italian design of the thirteenth century. Although now much altered and spoiled it has evidently had the same arcaded ornament at the eaves as we have observed at Grasse, San Remo, and elsewhere. The doorways also correspond in style with the above churches. To the north of the church is a very interesting baptistery, which reminds one of those of FrÉjus and Aix. It is of octagonal form, 28 feet long by 26 feet wide, with a vault supported on Corinthian-like pillars, and has a very ancient but dismal and neglected appearance. One of the windows is filled with stone tracery of a Byzantine or Moorish character.

In moving eastwards we pass in succession Ceriale, with its fortifications, and Loano with its great monasteries, Verezzi with one good campanile, and Flnalmarino with two. From the latter a view is obtained of Finalborgo in the distance (about two miles off), where there are evidently the remains of a fine castellated structure. At

Noli there is an ancient entrance tower with an archway through it. Savona retains its fortifications of the Vauban School, and Verazze the shattered ruins of an old castle.

It is not intended to attempt to describe the architecture of Genoa. That has already formed the subject of special works, and would require a volume to itself. Only, in closing this account of the architecture of the Riviera, one or two examples from Genoa are given, in order to make more distinct the analogies to which attention has been drawn between the architecture of a large part of the Riviera and that of the famous Republic, as well as the style of Italy generally. Thus the side doorway of the cathedral exhibits, in a remarkable manner, the same imitation of Roman architecture (see Vignette on title page, and Heading p. 25), modified by the introduction of Romanesque or Teutonic ornament, which we observed at St Gilles, Arles, and other churches of Provence. This doorway is part of the original building of the eleventh century, although the greater part of the cathedral was restored about 1300.

The faÇade of San Matteo, on which are engraved so many inscriptions in honour of the various distinguished members of the family of Doria and that of San Stefano, shew the arcaded caves, and the inlaid moulding under the cornice which exist at Grasse, San Remo, Ventimiglia, &c. The doorways of these churches have the same flat porch, with small projection, and plain pointed gable, and the same sort of arch and shafts as several of the examples we have met with in the Riviera. San Matteo dates from 1278. The cloister (Fig. 280) which adjoins that church is of the beginning of the fourteenth century, and contains the monuments of the Dorias, which have been brought here from the suppressed church of Santa Dominica. The cloisters of San Matteo, and also those of San Lorenzo, present shafts and caps in the same Italian style as we have observed extended as far westwards as the cloisters at FrÉjus, and the upper cloister of the castle of St Honorat. The sculptured lintel in the Piazza San Matteo (Fig. 281), exhibiting the combat of St George and the Dragon, although more elaborate, is similar in style to the lintel of the house at Taggia (Fig. 273); while the campaniles and arcades of other churches in Genoa (Figs. 282 and 283) recall the Italian style, of which we have met with so many examples in Provence.