Tourism Outings

The village with its mild climate, sheltered at the foot of the Massif des Maures hills, has preserved its Provençal authenticity with its beautiful
XIVth Century tower, sole reminder of an
entrance through the former ramparts where the location of the drawbridge can still be seen, and converted into a Clock Tower in the XVIth Century; the
church and its sundial, originally Romanesque and remade in the XVIth Century; the old village's two former access gateways and the lovely porches sculpted in serpentine and volcanic rock from the Maures.

Historical Circuit
Walk time: approx. 1 hour 15 minutes
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DEPARTURE: Leave from the Tourism Office (located on the site of the former tollhouse) and go left along the rue Jean Jaurès. Pass in front of the commemorative monument [1] on the Place de la République. Turn right and go up the rue du 8 Mai 1945 which runs along the side of the square and spare a glance for the Town Hall, built in 1853. At the top of the street, turn left into the rue du 11 Novembre, towards the Saint-Sauveur-Saint-Etienne church.

When you reach the Place de l’Abbé Toti [2],
visit the church, where some medieval sections remain. On the lateral facade, admire the beautiful Renaissance portal sculpted in serpentine (dark green, white-veined rock, which used to be quarried here, particularly near La Mole). On the main facade, the Gothic-style portal is in basalt (volcanic stone quarried near Cogolin). Just opposite this portal, if you take the rue des Mines you will discover the Balguerie Pottery, located further along on the right. This road’s name comes from the silver mine, now abandoned, to which it once lead.


From the Place de l’Abbé Toti, go along the rue Nationale to visit the old village with its many porches in serpentine and basalt. In this street you can admire some of these beautiful door frames, in serpentine at n° 32 and in basalt at n° 18, 34 and 44 [3], no doubt “recycled” from the site of the château.


Follow the rue Nationale to the “Portail Bas”, the lower gateway, and turn left under the vaulted passageway in lava stone. You will arrive on a charming little square where you turn right into the rue du Cadran. When you reach the top of this street, you will see a beautiful stone house [4] opposite you, decorated with tiled eaves. Then head right, down the rue des Moulins whose name comes from the 5 windmills which used to exist in Cogolin, and visit the painters’ workshop.


Come back the way you arrived, and go up the rue de la Résistance, a former Roman road, and at the top, turn right into the Montée des Aloès: here you will have a fine view of the Clock Tower, the only remainder of the fortified walls of Cogolin, going back to the end of the 13th and early 14th Century. The location of the drawbridge leading to the ramparts which sheltered the village inhabitants and their herds when danger threatened can still be seen.


Return to the Place Toti, going past the lovely fountain with its serpentine basin. The Place de l’Abbé Toti, previously called the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, was first named after a ghastly death, that of a Draguignan blacksmith named Valence, who was burned alive there in 1587 for sacrilege. But it is now named in memory of a parish priest, Abbé Toti, who worked in Cogolin from 1966 to 1977 and who is fondly remembered by a whole generation of villagers.
On this square, you can see the former home of the pedlar Esmieu. The fact that he is remembered goes back to the 1960s, when Jean-Pierre Saglia undertook works on the old family home. In a wall cupboard, he discovered a yellowed, 66-page book in which his forebear, Jean-Joseph Esmieu, told his life story : "Vie pénible et laborieuse du sieur Jean-Joseph Esmieu - The difficult and hard-working life of Mr Jean-Joseph Esmieu. He was born in Gaudissart, hamlet of Méolans, in the Barcelonnette Valley of Haute-Provence, in 1762 on the 15th day of the month of May, at 7 in the morning." The discovery of Jean-Joseph Esmieu’s astonishing life, which he had written when 61 years old in the form of an adventure story, led to the printing of a book entitled "La vie pénible et laborieuse du colporteur Esmieu" (published by Les Alpes de Lumière – Sabença de la Valeia – Sept. 2002).


Go down as far as the Place Bellevue with its orientation table [5]. When the sky is clear, a panoramic view of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez is possible from here. On the left, on the corner of the rue du 19 Mars 1962 and of the Montée Saint - Roch, you will find the Saint-Roch Chapel [6], dating back to the 19th Century and built with the help of the White Penitents Brotherhood. The barn, located to its right, is the former 17th Century Saint-Roch Chapel, built by the White Penitents Brotherhood, but then sold as state property during the French Revolution. It was long used as a farm building. In the 1813 Napoleonic land register, it is described as “stable with a garden”. Saint Roch’s legendary role is to protect against epidemics. This saint’s fame comes from a pilgrimage he made to Rome in the 14th Century. Starting from Montpellier, he drew attention through his devotion and for the patients suffering from the Plague he managed to cure.


On your right, return to the rue Nationale and stop at n° 46, a beautiful XVIIth Century mansion with a remarkable serpentine porch, former residence of the Lord of Cogolin. It houses a Rooster Museum (Cogolin’s symbol) and a Medieval and Templars’ Museum as well as an exhibition hall. Opposite the museum, stroll around the pleasant little square with its lovely three-headed fountain in serpentine [7].


Continue along the rue Nationale as far as the stairs on the left. Go down them and continue opposite along the rue Edgar Quinet to return to the Tourism Office, with a stop at the Ham Gallery (temporary exhibitions by different artists). Continue your visit of our village with the discovery of potteries , pipe and woodwind reed factories, the exhibition hall of the carpet factory or the wonderful Raimu Museum, created by the actor’s grand-daughter who personally shows visitors around, and where you find many mementoes, public and private, of the great Jules Raimu.