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 Romanesque chapel was built on the hill of Candoux, where early Christians of Tourves gathered in a chapel dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. According to the Provençal historian Calixte Blanc, Probace de Tourves left for Provence around 52–53 and was buried there. The chapel was rebuilt in 1643 together with a hermitage that has since disappeared; workers digging during construction reportedly found 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 stands on the Candoux hill south of Tourves, above the Caramy valley and its Roman bridge. The walk starts from a car park on the riverbank; from there the climb is on foot only. Allow time for the ascent, as the path rises steadily to the summit.

The hill of Candoux, where the chapel stands, was the site of a Celtic-Ligurian oppidum that is considered the origin of the settlement of Tourves. The building was restored from 2008 by three Franco-American monks, and since 2011 the hermit Brother Séraphin has lived in the hermitage. In 2026 the Fondation du patrimoine launched a donation appeal to restore the roof.