FIG. 226. INTERIOR OF N. GATEWAY, ST PAUL-DU-VAR.
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.
FIG. 227. MAIN STREET IN ST PAUL-DU-VAR.
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.
FIG. 228. CHIMNEY-PIECE IN THE MAISON SURAIRE, ST PAUL-DU-VAR.
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