Rocher de Roquebrune et le Saint-Trou

Roquebrune-sur-Argens

Red, bristling with crests and towers, the rock stands alone above the plain of the Argens; seen from the north, it draws the outline of a reclining woman, the Femme Morte. These are Permian sandstones sculpted into needles, mushrooms, deep fissures. The most famous is the Saint-Trou, a fault so narrow that one slips through it sideways. Megalithic remains, Iron Age oppida and dry-stone enclosures speak of a very ancient occupation. In the Middle Ages, the rock was called the rock of the Three Crosses and attracted pilgrims. According to legend, it split into three faults at the instant Christ died on the cross, and the three faults represent his three wounds; another tradition relates that a pious young woman, pursued by a lord, prayed to the Virgin before the rock face, which opened for her alone: since then, it is said that only pure souls pass through the Saint-Trou. On the northern flank, the chapel of Notre-Dame de la Roquette, built in the 16^th century beside the remains of a convent attributed to the Trinitarians, dated to the 12^th century by Wikipedia although the order was not born until 1198, was called Notre-Dame des Spasmes, des Sept-Douleurs or des Œufs; a notarial deed of 1562 records there a stillborn child said to have given a sign of life. Further on, the chapel of Saint-Jean is built at the bottom of a fissure. Burnt in 1962, La Roquette is slowly collapsing. At the summit, the pilgrims' wooden crosses were replaced on 11 July 1991 by three steel crosses by Bernar Venet.

Wikipédia — Rocher de Roquebrune ↗

Getting there : The rock is crossed by the GR 51 (red and white waymarking); the Trois-Croix path, signposted from Roquebrune-sur-Argens, is short but steep and rocky, to be done in walking boots, a half-day there and back including the chapels. Notre-Dame de la Roquette, the chapel of Saint-Jean and the Saint-Trou are reached by the northern side, from Le Muy or from the Lac de l'Aréna. The massif is closed on days of fire risk, from June to September: check the prefecture of the Var's map of the massifs every morning. The Roquebrune tourist office offers guided visits.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound