Saint-Tropez

Saint-Tropez (French pronunciation: [st pe]; Sant-Troups in Provenal dialect) is a town, 100 kilometres
(62 miles) west of Nice, in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Cte d'Azur region of southeastern France.
It is also the principal town in the canton of Saint-Tropez.
Saint-Tropez is located on the French Riviera. It was a military stronghold and an unassuming fishing
village until the beginning of the 20th century. It was the first town on this coast to be liberated during World War II
(as part ofOperation Dragoon). After the war, it became an internationally known seaside resort, renowned
principally because of the influx of artists of the French New Wave in cinema and the Y-y movement in music. It
later became a resort for the European and American jet set and a goal for tourists in search of a little Provenal
authenticity and an occasional celebrity sighting.
The inhabitants of Saint-Tropez are called Tropziens[1] (French pronunciation: [tpezj] ), and the town is
familiarly called St-Trop (French pronunciation: [s tp]).
In 599 BC, the Phocaeans founded Massilia (present-day Marseille) and established coastal mooring sites in the
region. In 31 BC, the Romans invaded the region. Their citizens built many opulent villas in the area; one is
known as the "Villa des Platanes" (Villa of the Plane trees). The first name given to the village was HeracleaCaccaliera, and the mouth of the Gulf was named The Issambres.
The town owes its current name from the early, semi-legendary martyrnamed Saint Torpes. The legend
says that he was beheaded at Pisa during the reign of Nero, and that his body was placed in a rotten boat along
with arooster and a dog. The body landed at the present-day location of the town.[2][3][4]
Towards the end of the ninth century with the fall of the Roman Empire, pirates and privateers attacked
and sacked the region for the next 100 years, and in the 10th century the village of La Garde-Freinet, 15 km
(9 mi) north of St. Tropez, was founded. From 890972, Saint-Tropez and its surroundings became an ArabicMuslim colony dominated by the nearbySaracen settlement of Fraxinet.[5][6] In 940, Nasr ibn Ahmad was in control
of Saint-Tropez.[6] In 961963, Audibert, son of Berenger, the pretender to the throne of Lombardy who was
pursued by Otto I, hid at Saint-Tropez.[6] In 972, the Muslims of Saint-Tropez held the abbot of Cluny Maeul until
he was released for ransom.[6]
In 976, William I Count of Provence, lord of Grimaud, began attacking the Muslims and in 980 built a
tower at the current location of the Suffren tower. In 1079 and 1218, Papal bulls mentioned the existence of a
manor in Saint-Tropez.
From 1436, Count Ren I (called "good King Ren") tried to repopulate the Provence. He created the
Barony of Grimaud and appealed to the Genoan Raphael de Garezzio, a wealthy gentleman who sent a fleet
of caravels carrying sixty Genoese families to the area. In return, Count Ren promised to exempt the citizens
from taxation. On 14 February 1470, Jean de Cossa, the Baron of Grimaud and Grand Seneschal of Provence,
reached an agreement with Raphael de Garezzio that allowed Garezzio to build city walls and two large towers

which are still standing. One tower is at the end of the "Grand Mle" and the other is at the entrance to the
"Ponche".
The city became a small Republic with its own fleet and army and was administered by two consuls and
twelve elected councilors. In 1558 the office of Captain of City (Honorat Coste) was empowered to protect the
city. The captain lead a militia and mercenaries who successfully resisted attacks by the Turks, Spaniards,
succored Frjus and Antibes, and assisted the Archbishop of Bordeaux to regain control of the Lrins Islands.
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 Mle, 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 the 15 June 1637. Les Bravades des Espagnols is a local religious and military celebration
commemorating this victory of the Tropezianmilitia over the Spanish.[7] Count Ren's promise in 1436 to not tax
Saint Tropez' citizens continued until 1672 when it was repealed by Louis XIV, who reasserted French control
over the city. Pierre Andr de Suffren de Saint Tropez (17291788) was a famous vice-admiral who fought in
the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War.
During the 1920s Saint-Tropez attracted famous figures from the world of fashion, like Coco
Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli. 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 French

actress Brigitte Bardot.

In May 1965, an Arospatiale Super Frelon preproduction aircraft crashed in the Gulf, killing its pilot.
On 4 March 1970, the French submarine Eurydice, which was home ported at Saint-Tropez, disappeared
in the Mediterranean after an explosion of unknown cause, with 57 crew members on board.
The English rock band Pink Floyd wrote a song called "San Tropez" after the town. Saint-Tropez is also
cited in David Gates' 1978 hit, "Took The Last Train" and Aerosmith's "Permanent Vacation". Rappers
including Diddy, Jay Z and 50 Cent refer to the city in some of their songs as a favorite vacation destination,
usually by yacht. DJ Antoine wrote a song called "Welcome to St. Tropez" which talks about people going there
and spending all the money they have.
Motto
Ad usque fidelis, Latin for "Faithful to the end". After the "dark age of plundering" the French Riviera,
Raphal de Garesio landed in Saint-Tropez on 14 February 1470 with 22 men (simple peasants or sailors who
had left the overcrowded Italian Riviera). They rebuilt and repopulated the area, and in exchange for this service
were granted by a representative of the "good king" Jean de Cossa, Baron of Grimaud and Seneschal of

Provence, a number of privileges, including some previously reserved exclusively for lords, such as a tax-exempt
status and the right to bear arms. Their motto was Ad usque fidelis and they kept their promise indeed. About 10
years later, a great wall with towers stood watch protecting the new houses from sea and interior land attack.
Some 60 families formed the new community and on 19 July 1479 the new Home Act was signed, called: "The
rebirth charter of Saint-Tropez".[8]