Part 22

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

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.