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Come and visit the complex of bishops' buildings at Fréjus cathedral in the Var and admire the ceiling of the cloister, a unique and little-known medieval painting with an exceptional bestiary of imaginary animals.
Visiting the cloister of Fréjus cathedral
• The cloister. Each of the four galleries has nine lancet arches resting on eight narrow double columns made of marble with flat-leafed capitals decorated with shells, palms, palm trees, fleur-de-lis, pine cones, etc.
• The painted ceiling (14th century). 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. A wide variety of themes are included, ranging from war to religion, trades, music, animals and so forth.
Understanding the cloister of Fréjus cathedral
• The cloister of a set of cathedral buildings. The cloister belongs to a set of buildings which were built between the 11th and the 14th century on the site of a Roman city founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BC. The cathedral church of Saint Leontius has two naves side by side. It includes stalls and a reredos from the 15th century. The baptistery incorporates Roman columns and still has a 5th-century baptismal basin large enough for a person to be immersed. It is one of the oldest in France.
