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Origin and history

The convent of the Dominicans of Fréjus was founded in the middle of the seventeenth century, with a first installation of the sisters in 1639, joined by the Bernardines in 1647. The buildings, organised around a cloister and a chapel in the northwest, are mostly from this period. The chapel, with its façade dating from 1681, features remarkable architectural elements such as serpentine angle chains, brick arches and segmental cradle vaults. A niche also adorns the corner of the building. Originally, the convent consisted of two-storey convent buildings, but some were later demolished to give way to modern buildings.

In the 19th century, the site underwent a radical transformation: the cadastre of 1826 revealed a total fragmentation of the convent. The chapel, desacralized, served as a stable, while the old convent buildings were converted into houses. Among the remaining remains, the western gallery of the cloister disappeared, and only the facade of the chapel Saint-Félix and its roof cover corresponded were protected by a decree of inscription in 1961. Today, the site belongs to a private company, and its state of conservation reflects these successive changes.

The architectural features of the convent combine small regular apparatus for the vaults of galleries and brick for arcades, typical of the 17th century Provencal religious constructions. The chapel, though divided into interiors, preserves traces of its original use, such as the angle niche. The monument thus illustrates the evolution of the convent spaces, from places of prayer and retreat to secular uses, while maintaining a heritage value recognized by its partial protection.

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