Prehistory
Traces of human presence - 350,000 years BC - have been found on the terraces that dominate the beds of the Argens and Reyran rivers. - on the terraces overlooking the beds of the Argens and Reyran rivers. In the valleys of Salernes and Brignoles, traces of farming and stockbreeding have been found dating back to 4,000 BC, attesting to the sedentary nature of the first inhabitants. Around 500 BC, the Var was populated by Ligurians, soon joined by the Celts.
De 600 avant J.-C. à 155 avant J.-C
The Greeks founded the city of Massilia - Marseilles - whose commercial power will quickly spread over the whole region, mainly on the coast, with the creation of the cities of Tauroeis - Six Fours - and Olbia - Hyères - and even Cabalaria - today Cavalaire.
De 155 avant J.-C. au IIIème siècle
From 155 B.C., the Romans gradually settled throughout Provence and laid out the famous Via Aurelia, which linked the Rhone Valley to Italy, creating the port of Forum Iulii - Fréjus - an important military base. The Pax Romana spread its benefits throughout the region, which enjoyed a long period of prosperity. From the 3rd century onwards, Christianity spread; the emperor Constantine was converted, and the region was covered with monasteries and abbeys.
De 476 au XIème siècle
The disintegration and fall of the Roman Empire in 476 left all of Provence to the barbarians (Burgundians, Visigoths, Ostrogoths...). Charles Martel repulsed the Arabs at Poitiers in 732, but the Saracens, who were firmly established in Provence, attacked many villages. In response, many villages developed a defensive urbanism (walls, ramparts...).
The Varois then came under the authority of the Count of Provence, then under that of Charles of Anjou. In the 11th century, the Cistercian monks founded the abbey of Thoronet while the Templars and the Hospitallers created many monasteries.
Du XIVème au XVIIème siècle
The Great Black Death decimated the whole region in the 14th century and a war of succession broke out between Louis of Anjou and Charles of Duras. Many villages are then deserted. In the 16th century, the Wars of Religion bloodied the Var; in 1589, the population of Brignoles, mostly Protestant, was massacred.
Until the 17th century, the whole region lived in uncertainty and wars with their trail of massacres.
During the reign of Louis XIV, Vauban fortified Toulon from 1680 to 1700.
Du XVIIIème siècle au XIXème siècle
From 1745 to 1750, the War of the Austrian Succession ravaged the countryside. On the eve of the Revolution, the Var was a weakened but prosperous region thanks to its agriculture and the exploitation of its forests for shipyards in particular. The Revolution of 1789 gave rise to hopes for a better life and the department of the Var was created from a province of Provence.
In the 19th century, following the annexation of the county of Nice, the Var was amputated from its eastern part and the river Var, which gave its name to the department, was no longer part of the Var. Clémenceau was deputy of the Var from 1888 to 1893; he became popular with the Var people after pleading the cause of the Toulon people, hit by the cholera epidemic.
First and Second World Wars
The department of Var pays a heavy price to the first world war. Between the two wars, the Var coast is "discovered", artists and celebrities are jostling for position. Tourism developed rapidly and tourist facilities multiplied.
In 1940, the Var was integrated into the free zone but the Germans invaded in 1942.
On 15 August 1944, the first French army landed on the coast. On 29 August, Toulon was liberated.
Les années 1960/1970
The prosperity of the sixties led to a strong development of tourism in the Var. The department was equipped with infrastructures that made it one of the top tourist paradises. New towns appeared on the coast, Port-Grimaud, Les Issambres or inland, Cogolin. Small villages such as Saint-Tropez and Sainte-Maxime gained international fame. In 1974, the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region was created; the Var was part of it.
Nowadays
Today, the Var is made up of eight territories: metropolitan Toulon and Provence Méditerranée, Provence Verte, Haut-Var Verdon, Aire Dracénoise, canton de Fayence, Var Estérel, Golfe de Saint-Tropez and Cœur du Var. The Conseil départemental du Var has opted for sustainable development as a means of controlling economic development while at the same time making the most of the region's natural assets.
