FIG. 121. ST PAUL, HYÈRES.
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.
