PORT OF SAINT-TROPEZ

In the heart of the city, this fishing and yachting harbour, made up of two basins, is a very popular stopover out of season. A stroll along the quays of the old port surrounded by houses with coloured facades in shades of ochre and olive green for the shutters, to visit the Annonciade museum housed in a 16th century chapel, to admire the statue of the Bailiff of Suffren, the famous French vice-admiral, on the Quai Suffren, and to sip a cool drink comfortably on the terrace of one of the large cafés, to admire the luxurious yachts swinging on the quay, to appreciate the permanent exhibition and sale of amateur painters who have set up their easels, to stroll from shop to shop, often fitted out in old boat garages, to discover the recently renovated fish market, by taking the passage behind the tourist office, where local fishermen sell their catch of the day. At the end of the port, at the end of the Jean-Réveille pier, stands the Portalet tower, then the Glaye cove and the Ponche beach, the old small port reserved for fishermen protected by the Vieille tower.

The port was created at the end of the 15th century, around 1470, on the initiative of the inhabitants who had decided to rebuild the town, with the help of Genoese sailors who were present in the area. The following centuries were devoted to various activities, long-distance sailing, shipbuilding, coastal shipping and of course fishing. In the middle of the 17th century, two quays were built on the sea, one from the Portalet tower, the other from the south of the village to the Saint Elme tower. From the 17th to the 19th century, the current "quai de l'Épi" was used as a shipyard. Unbelievable but true, in the 18th century, the port of Saint-Tropez became the third largest French port in the Mediterranean, thanks to an overflowing activity linked to the wine, cork and wood trades. The port underwent numerous enlargement works before being considerably damaged by mines left by the Germans during the landing of the Allied troops on August 15th 1944. The reconstruction work lasted until 1948. In 1965, the Jean Lescudier marina was built at the western entrance to the town and the port has benefited from numerous improvements, including the construction of the first red lighthouse in Saint-Tropez at the end of the main pier, which signals the entrance to the port, and the renovation of the harbour master's office, inaugurated in 2017, which has superb terraces overlooking the old port.