Medieval Church of San Rafeu

In the 13th century, Saint-Raphaël was under the authority of the Bishop of Fréjus, who occasionally resides there as well as in Fayence and Puget, his main residence being Fréjus. It was he who initiated the construction of this tower, erected on the arm of the south transept of the Church of San Rafeu, at the end of the 13th century.

This fortified tower, whose origin has long been wrongly attributed to the Templars, due to similarities in construction techniques, is more a symbol of authority than a defensive element. 25 meters high, it has 3 floors and its walls are made up in places of ancient re-uses.

It was not until 1881 that the wrought iron campanile was affixed to the top of the tower, as well as the bell, weighing 100kg and hammering the hours. At the top of the 129 steps, a superb 360 ° panorama opens up in front of you, from the summits of the Estérel to the tip of Saint-Tropez, passing through the ponds of Villepey, the rock of Roquebrune, and a breathtaking view of the basilica and its Byzantine domes.

The Templars at Saint-Raphaël in the Middle Ages

We can read in Wikipedia [1] that Saint-Raphaël was a Templar commandery. I also found on a revision of the PLU of the commune, an inscription from December 17, 1943 for buildings which contain the remains of the Commandery of the Templars[2].

Saint-Raphaël is indicated as Templar commanderies in the Mérimée base, but this attribution is subject to discussion. On the other hand, what is indisputable is the fact that the Templars owned a harbor and used the port for their ships[3].

We can ask ourselves the question, why in Saint-Raphaël and not in Fréjus is the episcopal seat? The Roman port, which was silted up, was already no longer usable[4].

The order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon was created on the occasion of the Council of Troyes in 1129. The Templars' mission was to secure the journey of pilgrims going to Jerusalem.

The order, over time, has been established in many countries in Europe, in France, Belgium, Germany, England, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Poland. The highest densities of commanderies in France were in Midi-Pyrénées with 29, the PACA region with 27. It is of course no coincidence that if the French Mediterranean coast was so well equipped with establishments containing soldiers, it was necessary to guarantee the protection of ports of embarkation which provided logistics to the Holy Land, and securing the coasts against all kinds of pirates.

After the destruction of Toulon by the Saracens in 1178, the Emperor and the Pope decided to entrust the protection of the entire coast of Provence to the Templars[5].

It is difficult to think that at Saint-Raphaël where their ships anchored, the Templars did not have a guard post there. In addition, the diocese of Fréjus hosted on its lands one of the largest commanderies in Provence in Ruou.

The first official mention of the Ruou commandery dates from 1155, 152 years of prosperity which ended on September 14, 1307 with the arrest of members of the order.

So we can reasonably imagine that in the streets of Saint-Raphaël at the time, we could come across Templars. These warrior monks whose lives were punctuated by times of prayer, Matins at midnight, Lauds at 4 a.m., Primes at 6 a.m., Terce at 9 a.m., Sext at noon, None at 3 p.m., Vespers at 5 p.m. and Compiles before the to sleep. Even though San Rafeu Church was not built by the Templars, it may well bear their name, as for over a century and a half they were its main users.

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Notes and references

[1] Wikipedia: The village then became a dependency of the bishopric of Fréjus, which had existed since the 5th century. In the 12th century, the conflict over the succession of the county of Provence between the counts of Toulouse and Barcelona allowed the Order of the Temple to take possession of the village which then became a commandery like Hyères or Grasse until the dissolution of the order in 1312 and the transfer of property to the order of Saint John of Jerusalem. In 1347, the Black Death ravaged Provence and decimated more than a third of its population.

[2] p27 PLU – Revision no. 1 prescribed by DCM of 11/26/2015 - buildings, near the church, registered on December 17, 1943, between boulevard de Valescure, boulevard de Chateaudun, rue des Remparts and rue des Templiers (which contain the remains of the Commanderie des Templiers),

[3] Marion Melville. The Lives of the Templars. The Templars had a harbor in Saint-Raphaël, another in Collioure.

[4] Claude-François ACHARD, Geography p. 548-556 .“Fréjus was once a seaport which filled up and the town is currently almost 2 miles from the sea coast. (…) Fréjus is no longer the city that was once so flourishing due to its commerce and the fertility of its land. Its port has changed into a marshy place whose exhalations alter the health of the inhabitants (…) the port of Fréjus has today been transformed into vegetable gardens. »

[5]Antoinette Demuth The great times of the County of Provence. p.100

PREHISTORY AND MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM

Located in the heart of Saint-Raphaël, this museum used to be the presbyter for the San Rafeu church. It was built in the 12th century. One can still note examples of medieval architecture, such as ramparts and arrow slits.

Free entry
Location : Church square (Parvis de la vieille église)
Activity : Musée de France

Officially recognized as a historic monument in 1907, this museum houses a permanent collection of objects excavated from the sea along the coast of Agay and Anthéors. The reconstruction of commercial ships from this area testifies to the lively commerce in the Mediterranean during the Roman Empire. Traces of this era can be found in the splendid collections of tools and artefacts dating from the Palaeolithic to the Iron age.

The temporary exhibitions are housed in the medieval church, an ancient building that still shows evidence of numerous architectural transformations, some dating back to the 2nd century and Imperial Roman age.

Climb the fortified watchtower to enjoy an extraordinary panorama where the sea disappears into the horizon.