Cathédrale Saint-Léonce

The first cathedral dedicated to the Virgin and Saint Leontius (Bishop of Fréjus 400? – 433), traces of which can be seen in the large medieval nave, was perhaps built on an ancient temple or under the Roman basilica as early as the XNUMXth century AD.

During the early Middle Ages, from the 11th century, another church was added to the north, against the previous one. This second church was parallel and contiguous to the first but also smaller. Lengthened in the 12th century, it then became the parish church, today the Saint-Etienne nave.

At that time the parish cemetery adjoined the north of this church: it was one of the first examples of a cemetery in a town in southern Gaul.

We can speak of a "double church", quite common for such monuments throughout Christendom.

The beginning of the 13th century saw a significant monumental enrichment. The Notre-Dame nave was completely rebuilt. To the west were built the piers, designed to support the bell tower located in the axis of the nave. To the east the footprint of the nave was extended by an apse, in a cul-de-four, surmounted by a tower open at the throat, similar to that of the city wall, affirming for the building a fortified aspect, and thus giving it a character rare in all Mediterranean architecture. This somewhat military aspect of the whole represents the expression of the military and temporal power exercised by the clergy.

The bell tower, restored after the Second World War, actually dates from the 13th century for its lower part and from the 16th century for the octagonal drum and the spire made of varnished "malons" from Provence. The green and ochre colors of the malons in contact with the light give the bell tower sumptuous golden reflections.

The construction in 1530 of the new entrance to the cathedral, which houses very beautiful carved wooden coffered doors, led to the removal of the old entrance which opened onto the cloister.

It gave way to the development of the tombs of 2 bishops, Mgr Barthélemy and Pierre de Camelin, development which presents two statues commissioned from a Genoese workshop. In the Saint-Etienne nave is the baroque high altar attributed to Dominique Fossati, a Marseille marble worker of the XNUMXth century.

Inside, a type of ribbed vault called "Lombard" comes straight from Lombardy (Italy) and covers the nave. In addition, the walnut woodwork stalls in the apse date from 1441. They are attributed to the Toulon sculptor Jean Flamenc.

The current organ case was built in 1991 by Pascal Quoirin in Saint-Didier in Vaucluse, and is inspired by Italian organs from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries.

The sacristy, which already existed there in the 12th century, is covered with walnut paneling in the Louis XV style (18th century). The slate lintel above the door is carved with the coat of arms of the provost Georges Fenilis.

Finally, the altarpiece of Saint Margaret is a religious painting from the end of the Middle Ages, supported by an assembly of wooden panels. Painted in tempera, the pictorial technique consists of grinding the colors with water and then diluting (or distempering) them with warm hide glue or gum.

In the international Gothic style, the altarpiece of Saint Margaret (1454) is the work of Jacques Durandi (around 1410 – 1469), precursor of Louis Brea, Master of the primitive school of Nice. The altarpiece of Fréjus, bearing the name of the sponsor (Antoine Boneti, beneficiary) and the painter, is the only work that can be recognized with certainty as Jacques Durandi.