FREJUS

town, Var dpartement, Provence-Alpes-Cte-d'Azur rgion, southeastern France. It lies south of the Estrel Massif, southwest of Cannes. The town is on the site of an ancient naval base founded by Julius Caesar about 50 BC and known originally as Forum Julii. Its Roman ruins include a 3rd-century amphitheatre, an aqueduct, and ancient fortifications. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame et Saint-tienne (13th century) has a 5th-century baptistery. Frjus was the birthplace of the Roman poet Gaius Cornelius Gallus and of the French revolutionary statesman Emmanuel-Joseph Sieys (1748). The town was devastated by flood when the nearby Malpasset Dam collapsed in 1959. The town's economic activities include tourism, the production of wines and fruits (especially peaches), and the quarrying of fluorspar and barite (barium sulfate). Pop. (1990) 42,613.