FIG. 154. DOORWAY OF ST ANNE.
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.
FIG. 155. MONT DU CHEVALIER, CANNES.
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.