The first owners of the estate did not have to look far for the name of the domaine, which has lasted for over a century. In nearby Châteaudouble, witnesses in medieval times reported an epic battle between St. Hermentaire, protector of the city of Draguignan, and a dragon terrorizing the population in the area.

This battle is only a legend of course, as reported in the sixteenth century in his manuscript on the “Life of St. Hermentaire” by Jean de Nostradamus, brother of Nostradamus, another legendary name.

Jean de Nostredame

This Jean de Nostradamus, Parliamentary Representative Provence, confided at the time that he had not invented anything but was inspired by a Provencal poem told by Raimon FERAUT. This troubadour wrote of a big snake after finding refuge from heavy flooding in the Ampus forest, and the story was adapted to its environment by adding claws and wings. Accompanied by some pilgrims bound for Frejus, Saint-Hermentaire is called to the rescue by peasants. For fear of the monster of the forest, they can no longer work their land, and famine soon threatens…

(1) Details of the ensuing fight are lost in the mists of time. It is said that St. Hermentaire used his belt to tie the dragon to a rock before the butchering it with his sword.

This distant legend has been perpetuated over the centuries and is still alive in the minds of the inhabitants of Draguignan, called Dracénois.