Villages de Caractère du Var > Nos villages > La Garde-Freinet

La Garde-Freinet, une île en forêt !

Market day: Wednesday & Sunday

Festivities:
> Saint-Clément bravade: early May
> Village festival: 1st weekend in August
> Chestnut Festival: last 2 Sundays in October

Located in the heart of the Massif des Maures, the forest town, in the middle of which is located, like an island, the village of La Garde-Freinet, installed on a pass at an altitude of 400 m, an essential passage to reach the Gulf of Saint -Tropez and the sea.

The village has retained the appearance it had in its golden age, in the 19th century, when the corkscrew industry had more than 600 workers working in the factories. It was then that the new districts of Les Aires and Place Neuve were added to the winding streets of the old village. Today it is the artists and craftsmen who animate La Garde-Freinet and its hamlets.

It is on foot, by bike or on horseback that you have to travel the immense extent of its territory to discover the diversity of its landscapes. Some will prefer the autumn colors of the chestnut forests and taste its fruits there; others will fall in love with the scents of spring that the local flora, of great variety, offers walkers.

People also come to La Garde-Freinet for the richness of its heritage – threshing floors, mills, apiaries, chapels, fountains or its orchard of fig trees – accessible through numerous tour routes.

Where to start is up to you!

À ne pas manquer !

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The white rocks

Résumé: Highest point in La Garde-Freinet at 637 m. A dazzling vantage point, the 360° panorama is sublime. A site of geological interest, the white rocks are [...]
Description:
Highest point in La Garde-Freinet at 637 m.
A dazzling vantage point, the 360° panorama is sublime.

A site of geological interest, the white rocks are composed of veins of sparkling quartz emerging from schist.
There are also mica-schist and garnet crystals.
Views over the Maures plain, Lac des Escarcets, Roquebrune rock, the Pre-Alps, the Gulf of Saint-Tropez and the Mediterranean.

TIPS FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Extraordinary 360° viewpoint at the highest point of La Garde-Freinet at 637 m a.s.l.

Adresse:
Chapelle Saint Jean RD 558 83680 La Garde-Freinet, La Garde-Freinet

The Miremer fig tree conservatory

Résumé: Heritage walks Laurent Boudinot, heritage officer, takes you on a tour of the Miremer site and its fig tree conservatory. After the 2003 fire on the [...]
Description:

Heritage walks
Laurent Boudinot, heritage officer, takes you on a tour of the Miremer site and its fig tree conservatory.

After the 2003 fire on the Miremer hill, ancient terraced garden walls emerged from the charred vegetation. This was the starting point for a project that lasted 5 years and led to the creation of a fig tree conservatory, in partnership with the Conservatoire botanique de Porquerolles.
This walk tells the story of this project, from the reassembling of the walls to the planting of the trees. You'll also discover this quintessential Mediterranean species, its different varieties and its incredible mode of reproduction, which relies entirely on a tiny wasp.

Adresse:
Conservatoire de figuiers de Miremer, La Garde-Freinet, France, La Garde-Freinet

The cross of the maures

Résumé: Consecrated on May 3, 1900 (day of the Holy Cross and Saint Clement, patron saint of the village), the Cross and its effigy of [...]
Description:

Consecrated on May 3, 1900 (day of the Holy Cross and Saint Clement, patron saint of the village), the Cross and its effigy of Christ are one of the emblems of the village that spreads out at its feet.

Standing 6 metres high, it is said to have been commissioned by Abbé Mathieu, who purposely placed it in the axis of the Place Neuve. He was responding to the anticlerical climate of the time, and was particularly targeting the atheist owner of the village's most imposing house... the former Tourist Office! According to tradition, the cleric said to his enemy: "You'll have Christ in front of you for the rest of your life! ". The monument also had a less spiritual function: it served as a lightning rod for the village for many years, before rust got the better of it. Badly damaged, the Cross was restored in 1978.

Adresse:
Colline de la Croix 83680 La Garde-Freinet, La Garde-Freinet

The Blay apiary and the Blanche water mill – Rando 10

Résumé: Stroll past a 17th-century apiary and the remains of a water mill. Stroll past a 17th-century apiary and the remains of a water mill. PARKING : Free [...]
Description:

Stroll past a 17th-century apiary and the remains of a water mill.

Stroll past a 17th-century apiary and the remains of a water mill.

PARKING :
Free Saint-Joseph parking lot.
- Coming from Grimaud or Le Luc, leave the RD558 at the Mairie, turn right past the Mairie onto Rue des Jardins, then left onto Rue Saint-Joseph.

THE ROUTE :
This approximately 4 km hike descends into a valley, around a dam, and takes in two heritage sites.
From Parking Saint-Joseph, follow the signposted path for about 30 min. to above the dam, then turn left to ford the river. Go up the other side to the apiary, but do not enter the enclosure (beware of the bees!). Continue along the signposted path to the remains of the water mill. Return along the same path.

TO SEE / TO DO :
- The restored 17th-century Blay apiary.
- Remains of the water mill.
- Various old stone hamlets.

RECOMMENDATIONS :
- Only use the trail during authorized periods! Find out how open the forests are, especially in summer (see Var Prefecture website).
- Bring plenty of water and good footwear.

HISTORY, CULTURE AND HERITAGE

Adresse:
chapelle saint-jean, D558, 83680 La Garde-Freinet, France, La Garde-Freinet

LE MOULIN DE L’ADRECH – HIKE 11

Résumé: Stroll to an old windmill at an altitude of around 400 metres on the crest of a hill once crossed by an ancient transhumance [...]
Description:
Stroll to an old windmill at an altitude of around 400 metres on the crest of a hill once crossed by an ancient transhumance path.
Its position offers a magnificent panorama all the way to the sea.

The Adrech windmill was built between 1746 and 1776, the date of a ground rent lease by its owner, sieur Clément Guillabert, master surgeon of La Garde-Freinet. We learn that the tower was not plastered, that the wings were made of pine wood, as was the roof, and that the millstones, revolving and standing, were made of a single piece of Marseille stone.
The last known mention of the mill is a deed of sale dated June 1841. A certain Tropez Ollivier, a former wheat miller, was forced to sell the mill to pay off his debts. It was bought by the village baker, Antoine Montagnac, for the sum of 2,400 francs and 8 kg of white bread per week for the rest of his life. 20 years later, the mill ceased to operate for good.

HISTORY, CULTURE AND HERITAGE

Adrech windmill built between 1746 and 1776

Le Fort-Freinet

Résumé: Fort Freinet is a castrum, a medieval fortified village. The fortified site of La Garde-Freinet covers an area of around 1,200 m², stretching over a [...]
Description:

Fort Freinet is a castrum, a medieval fortified village.

The fortified site of La Garde-Freinet covers an area of around 1,200 m², stretching over a large part of the hill overlooking the village. It is surrounded by a wide moat to the north. Occupying the top of the hill, the castle extends over a 120 m² esplanade. It is clearly separated from the village below by a street, the first on the medieval path. Comprising some forty huts, half of which have already been cleared, the village is arranged in a semicircle on 3 or 4 levels on the north-western slope. CAUTION steep path!

While the origins of this castrum remain obscure, the circumstances of its destruction are well known. In November 1589, as the Wars of Religion raged, Captain Montant, on the orders of Marshal de La Valette, then Lieutenant-General to the Duke of Epernon, forced the inhabitants to dismantle the castle to prevent the Huguenots from taking it over.

The castrum consisted of 3 sectors:
- the castle at the top of the hill,
- the village on the southern flank of the cliff,
- an outpost on an isolated summit.

The originality of this site lies in the art with which its builders made use of the rock. The inhabitants did more than just adapt to the mineral environment, they adapted it to their needs, taking advantage of the slightest accidents in the terrain to build their homes.

Fort Freinet is classified as an outstanding natural site.

Adresse:
Colline du Fort-Freinet 83680 La Garde-Freinet, La Garde-Freinet
OT LA GARDE-FREINET
Town hall