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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church Saint-Pierre-aux-Liens of Six-Fours-les-Plages is a former collegiate church located in the Var, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It is the only vestige of the medieval village of Six-Fours, razed in the 19th century for the construction of a military fort. The present building is the result of two major phases: a 12th century Romanesque part, oriented east-west, and a 17th century neo-Gothic extension, oriented north-south, designed by Marseille architect Guillaume Borelli. The first stone of this extension was laid in 1608, and the church was consecrated in 1634 by the bishop of Toulon, Auguste de Forbin.

The Romanesque part, 25 meters long, houses a vaulted nave in a cradle and a flat bedside apse. Its basement reveals a cistern for stormwater, essential in the absence of a local source. In the 17th century, the Gothic enlargement, 37.5 meters long, was made of local schist and pink limestone of Martigues. It includes a unique nave with dogive crosses, a pentagonal bedside, and richly decorated side chapels. The church became collegiate in 1650, housing eleven canons and a dean, as evidenced by the walnut stalls and the organs installed above the entrance.

Ranked a historic monument in 1840, the church preserves remarkable elements such as a Ludovico Brea polyptych (1520-1523), baroque altarpieces, and contemporary stained glass windows created in 2014 by Adrian Schiess. Its history reflects the religious and military transformations of the region, from its role as a medieval parish to its preservation as a cultural heritage. The excavations of 1965 revealed controversial remains, such as a semicircular wall interpreted as a foundation or a hypothetical early church of the fifth century, thesis today rejected by archaeologists.

The college also houses classified works such as a painting by Guillaume-Ernest Grève (1628) representing Saint Peter receiving the keys to paradise, or a statue of the Virgin wrongly attributed to Peter Puget. The lateral chapels, dedicated to Saint Catherine, Saint Madeleine or Saint Clair, illustrate the local devotion and influence of religious orders such as the Dominicans. Since 2006, the parish has been entrusted to the Fathers Servants of Jesus the Savior, perpetuating its spiritual and heritage role.

The site, without a natural source, bears witness to ingenious adaptations such as the Romanesque tank or the retention basin of the chapel Sainte-Philomene, reconstituted in the 20th century. The church thus embodies the superposition of times, beliefs and techniques, from its medieval origins to its modern restoration, while remaining an active place of worship and a symbol of the collective memory of Six-Fours-les-Plages.

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