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.