The cathedral of Fréjus (2022)
The coastal city of Fréjus is part of the French Riviera, on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it was the place of a bishopric, today Fréjus shares it with the much larger city of Toulon, where the actual seat of the bishop has been moved.
In Fréjus there remains an episcopal group attesting to the very early presence of Christians: first a paleo-Christian baptistry built during the 400s and the second oldest in France after the Saint-Jean baptistry of Poitiers. I visited and photographed the latter, but unfortunately, when I went to Fréjus in June 2022, the former was closed for restoration and thus out of bounds. Second, a very interesting cathedral with two parallel naves, one of them Romanesque, the other originally paleo-Christian but completely remodeled during Gothic times and therefore of no particular interest to me. I am already glad that the Romanesque nave was mostly left alone, as there are not many Romanesque cathedrals still in existence in France.
Measuring a good 12 meters in width, this nave built around 1150 gives a powerful impression of strength and solidity. The high windows were of course remodeled during Gothic times, but aside from that, the nave is just as it was when it was built almost 900 years ago!
Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, manual focus. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head. Natural light.
View attachment 414488