PORT OF SAINT-TROPEZ

Right in the heart of the town, this fishing and yachting harbor, made up of two basins, is a popular stopover in the off-season. Take a stroll along the quays of the old port, surrounded by houses with colorful 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 Bailli de Suffren, the famous French vice-admiral, on the Quai Suffren, or to sip a cool drink on the terrace of one of the large cafés, to admire the luxurious yachts bobbing alongside, to appreciate the permanent exhibition and sale of amateur painters who have set up their easels, to stroll from store to store, often housed in former boat garages, to discover the fish market by taking the passage behind the tourist office, where local fishermen sell their catch of the day. At the far end of the port, at the end of the Jean-Réveille mole, stands the Portalet tower, followed by the Glaye cove and the Ponche beach, the old fishermen's harbor protected by the Tour Vieille.

The port was built in the late ^15th century, around 1470, on the initiative of local residents who, with the help of local Genoese sailors, had decided to reorganize the commune. The following centuries were devoted to a variety of activities, including ocean shipping, shipbuilding, coastal trading and, of course, fishing. In the ^mid-17th century, two wharves 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 home to the shipyards. Incredibly, in the ^18th century, the port of Saint-Tropez became France's third-largest Mediterranean port, thanks to a booming trade in wine, cork and timber. The port underwent a number of expansions, before being severely damaged by mines left by the Germans when Allied troops landed on August 15, 1944. Reconstruction work lasted until 1948. In 1965, the Jean Lescudier yachting basin was built at the western entrance to the town, and the port continued to benefit from numerous improvements, including the identical construction of Saint-Tropez's first red lighthouse at the end of the main jetty, which signals the entrance to the port, and the renovation of the harbourmaster's office, which boasts superb terraces overlooking the old port. The port has just been certified as a "Clean Harbour Active in Biodiversity".