Chapelle de Saint-Probace, Chapel in Tourves, France
The chapelle de Saint-Probace is a Romanesque stone chapel built on a hill south of the village of Tourves, in the Var department of France. Inside, the space is plain, with thick walls, rounded arches, a small altar, and a marble tomb said to belong to the saint.
A first chapel was built over the grave of a hermit named Probace, believed by tradition to have been a disciple of Christ, and the site was recorded in church documents by the early 11th century. In 1643, a larger building replaced the earlier one, and workers digging during construction reportedly uncovered the bones of a very tall man, identified as the saint.
The chapel is still an active place of devotion, with two pilgrimages held each year: one on Easter Monday and one on August 25th. In past times, villagers would carry the statue of Saint Probace down from the hill to the church in the village during droughts, hoping the saint would bring rain to their fields.
The chapel can only be reached on foot, either by a steep path from the village of Tourves or by a longer and more gradual trail called the 'chemin du bonheur.' A parking area near the river serves as a practical starting point for the walk up.
Around the chapel, on the rocky spur of the hill, you can still see low stone walls and mounds from an old Celtic-Ligurian stronghold, along with a stone altar of uncertain ancient origin. Since 2008, a hermit named Brother Séraphin has been living on the site full time, continuing a tradition of solitary monastic life that goes back centuries.
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