The Saint-Tropez citadel History

One of the most visited historical and cultural sites...

Composed by bastions and a hexagonal keep built between 1602 and 1608 on the drawings of engineer Raymond de Bonnefons, it is the most significant building between Antibes and Toulon. Stunning panoramic view over the Bay. The modern maritime museum, set up in the donjon, allows visitors to discover famous figures and heroes as well as the daily lives of men and women who shaped over the centuries the Saint-Tropez of today.

The heydays of speedboats

Saint-Tropez played an important role during the 1960's, in making speedboating fashionable, it was thanks to men like Antoine Mercurio, Marcel Biales, Joseph Fernandez and Roger Rizzo, founders of Sportmer, who imported Riva's from Italy and Cigarettes from Florida, the models of which you can admire alongside a Superyacht Mangousta.

The offshore races from 1985 to 1996 with Didier Pironi, Pascal Villanova and Jean-Marc Sanchez also remind us that Saint-Tropez was champions land!

Coral and sponge fishing

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Saint-Tropez was renowned for coral fishing. In 1600, the town offered a branch of coral to the future queen of France, Marie de Medicis on a stopover in Saint-Tropez.

The coral that was fished was dispersed throughout the Mediterranean from the Ottoman Empire and all the way to Tibet.

The Grammont cable factory

En 1892, un entrepreneur de la région lyonnaise, Alexandre Grammont, érige dans la baie des Canebiers un établissement fabriquant des câbles télégraphiques sous-marins. Si la câblerie existe jusqu’en 1952, date de sa destruction, son activité en temps cumulé n’excède pas cinq ans, entre 1892, année de sa construction, et 1924, dernière année d’activité de l’usine.

"Our Museum of maritime history is a fabulous conservatory of souvenirs... here, every object tells a story" Laurent Pavlidis.