Why Visit
Amongst its beaches is the famous Pampelonne Beach with many beach clubs, amongst them the famous “Club 55”. It has many exquisite restaurants.
History
The town derives its name from an early martyr named Saint Torpes. According to the legend he was beheaded in Pisa during the reign of Emperor Nero and his body was placed in a rotten boat along with a rooster and a dog. The body landed at the present day location of the town.
Towards the end of the ninth century with the fall of the Roman Empire, the area was plagued by pirates for the next 100 years. From 890–972, Saint-Tropez and its surroundings became a Muslim-Saracen colony dominated by the also Muslim nearby settlement of Fraxinet. In 940, Nasr ibn Ahmad was in control of Saint-Tropez. In 961–963, Audibert, son of Berenger, the pretender to the throne of Lombardy who was pursued by Otto I, hid at Saint-Tropez. In 972, the Muslims of Saint-Tropez held the abbot of Cluny Maïeul until he was released for ransom. In 976, Count William I of Provence declared war on the Saracens and in 980 he built a tower at the current location of the Suffren tower.
In 1436 Count Rene I of Provence tried to repopulate the are that had suffered from continuous pirate raids and warfare. He created a Barony in Grimaud and called in sixty Genoese families to settle in the area. A few years later, in 1470 the Baron Jean de Cossa of Grimaud reached an agreement with Raphael Garezzio and allowed the latter to build city walls and two large towers around the city. They can still be seen today.
The city became a republic with its own fleet and armed forces, administered by two consuls and twelve elected councillors. In 1558 the Captain of the City led local militia and mercenaries and successfully defended it against attacks from Turks and Spaniards. In 1577, the daughter of the Marquis Lord of Castellane, Genevieve de Castilla, married Jean-Baptiste de Suffren, Marquis de Saint-Cannet, Baron de La Môle and advisor to the Parliament of Provence. The lordship of Saint-Tropez became the prerogative of the de Suffren family.
In September 1615, Saint-Tropez was visited by an expedition led by the Japanese samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga who were on their way to Rome but obliged by weather to stop in St. Tropez. This is believed to be the earliest instance of contact between the French and the Japanese.
The local nobleman were responsible for raising a standing army which drove away a fleet of Spanish galleons in 1637. Les Bravades des Espagnols is a local religious and military celebration commemorating this victory of the Tropezian militia over the Spanish. The city’s independence came to an end when in 1672 King Louis XIV annexed it to the Kingdom of France.
The famous admiral Pierre Adnré de Suffren de Saint Tropez (1729–1788) was the third son of the Marquis de Saint-Tropez. During the 1920s Saint-Tropez attracted famous figures from the world of fashion, like Coco Chanel. During World War II, on 15 August 1944, it was the site of a military landing called Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France. In the 1950s, Saint-Tropez became internationally renowned as the setting for films including And God Created Woman starring the famous French actress Brigitte Bardot.
Museums - Archeological
There are three main museums in Saint Tropez. The “Musée de l’Annonciade” which houses an excellent collection of paintings from the period of 1890 to 1950. It is located in the former 16th-century Chapel de Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciade. The original collection of 1922 were mainly from artists working locally. The building was closed down during the French Revolution but it was restored and turned into a museum in 1955. The “Musée Naval de la Citadelle” is a walled fortress overlooking the town and the surrounding gulf. It was built at the end of the 16th century. It was an important coastal defence between Antibes and Toulon. The museum is located in several rooms in the centre of the citadel. There is also the “Maison des Papillons” (House of the Butterflies) which houses an enormous collection of butterflies.
Beaches
There are several in-town beaches one can visit. These are the La Glaye, La Ponche and the de la Fontanette. They are near the heart of the village but are very small. The most famous beach is the Pampelonne beach. It is a long sand beach located 5km from St. Tropez. It has its own parking, toilets, showers, changing facilities, cafes, restaurants, lifeguard patrols, sun-loungers and wind-surfing. There are also two famous clubs located in the Pampelonne beach, the Club 55 and the La Voile Rouge. Finally, there are the Plage de la Bouillabaisse, beyond the port and car park and is linked to Saint Tropez. It offers a beautiful view of the Maures Mountains.
Religious Monasteries and Churches
The Chapelle de St. Anne is characterized by its simple Provencal style, set among pines, cypresses and oaks and surrounded by a magnificent panoramic view of the gulf and its hills, was built in the seventeenth century on Mont Pécoulet to thank God, who saved the city from the plague that lashed Provence. In the nineteenth century, couriers came here to receive the blessing of St. Anne before starting long journeys.
The important Church of Notre Dame de l'Assomption, which stands out in the old town with its Italian Baroque style bell tower, contains the wooden bust of the patron Saint Torpes, also depicted on the facade.
The deconsecrated seventeenth-century Chapelle de l’Annonciade is currently the seat of the contemporary art museum.
The Chapelle de la Miséricorde is located on Rue Gambetta: this chapel of the Brotherhood of the "Black Penitents", dating back to the seventeenth century, has an interesting serpentine stone door.
