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Monument
The cloister of the cathedral of Fréjus was built in the 12th-13th centuries north of the church’s baptistery and porch-tower.
Its four galleries connected different canonical buildings and were used by the canons when they went to the cathedral. In the Middle Ages, they were also used by the local inhabitants to reach the Saint-Etienne nave where parish liturgy was held.
These galleries give onto a small garden in the centre of which is a well. The cloister’s wall-closet has pillars at the corners. Each side is composed of nine lancet arches supported by eight narrow double marble columns with flat-leafed capitals decorated with shells, palms, palm trees, fleurs de lis, pine-cones, etc. In the 14th century, an upper storey was built around the cloister; only on the north side has it survived; it has round arches and the capitals of the column are treated slightly differently from those on the ground floor.
The ceiling of the galleries, which replaced older vaulting, is supported by a wooden frame whose beams rest on two rows of moulded corbels. Built toward the middle of the 14th century, the ceiling is decorated with painted panels on three levels. Of the 1,200 small paintings on the ceiling, some 400 are still visible; they represent secular, military or religious individuals, and more than a half of them illustrate a particularly rich imaginary bestiary
Lodging
See the listing of the Hotels in Frejus
Practical information
Cloître de la cathédrale de Fréjus
48 rue du Cardinal Fleury
83600 Fréjus
Going there
From Nice: motorway A 8, exit n° 38 towards Fréjus and secondary road D 37 towards the town centre
From Toulon: motorways A 57 and then A 8, exit n° 37 towards Fréjus, then secondary road towards the town centre
On the Nice/Toulon road
28 km southwest of Cannes
Opening / Closing
Times may vary
Open
1 June to 30 September, every day, 9 am to 6:30 pm
2 January to 31 May and 1 October to 31 December, every day except Monday, 9 am to noon and 2 to 5 pm
Closed
1 January, 1 May, 1 and 11 November, 25 December