1 • The Old Harbour is dominated by the figure of Pierre-André de Suffren, whose statue was erected on the instigation of Emperor Napoleon III in
1866, and made of bronze melted down from pieces of artillery taken in battle with the Royal Navy. Suffren rose to the rank of bailiff in the Order of Saint John
of the Cross (Malta), and to that of Rear-Admiral in the French “Royale”. He was for a while the effective commander-in-chief of the French naval armed forces,
and as an ally contributed to American independence by his blockade of the English fleet at a crucial period of the war.
2 • Just next to the Tourist Information Office, the Porte de la Poissonnerie (with its mosaics and marble slabs decorating the tiny fish market) marks the
entrance to the Old Town. The other side of this former “Gate” you come out onto the delightful place aux Herbes and its convivial market for fruit, flowers,
vegetables and regional produce.
3 • Take Rue du Marché, then rue des Commerçants and rue Sibille, then right, along rue de l’Eglise to the parish church Notre Dame de
l’Assomption, its façade surmounted by the statue of Saint Tropez… as a Roman centurion. (nb: the church is open to visitors only in the morning).
Follow rue du Cdt. Guichard and come out onto Town Hall Square, and the adjoining place Garezzio where the oldest building in Saint-Tropez is to be
found: La Tour Guillaume.
4 • This tower is now generally known as the Suffren Tower, because the adjoining mansion was the seat of the Suffren family who were the last Lords of
Saint-Tropez, the title being abolished under the Revolution.
5 • Walk down the shortest street in town, named after Honorat Coste the very first Town Captain nominated in 1558. This leads to the oldest part of the
Old Harbour. Several traditional fishing boats (“pointus”), still plying their trade, can be seen moored in front of the Prudhommie de Pêche (the fishermen’s
self-regulatory body) situated Môle Jean-Réveille.
6 • This sea-wall, destroyed during the Allied Landings in August 1944, was rebuilt in 1950, and extended to its present length in 1966 in
conjunction with the new marina. It is named after a famous professor of navigation who taught at the naval school built by Napoleon Bonaparte next
to the Town Hall. The equally famous beacon at its point is an exact replica of the original – dating from 1837 – and was inaugurated as part of the millennium
celebrations.
7 • The Portalet Tower was part of the original defensive system completed in the late 15th century. It is here that the Coastal Pathway starts,
meandering along the shores of the peninsula. Almost “walking on the water”, this path first takes you past the cove named La Glaye or Gleye (a word
from Genoese dialect, meaning “church” – the first place of worship in 15th century Saint-Tropez was on the spot where the present Town Hall is located),
and then to the cove named La Ponche, formerly the tiny fishing harbour.
8 • The word “pouncho” in Provençal designates the point, or extremity, of the village. This area situated extra-muros was home to the fishermen, whose
families plied a cottage industry of salted fish providing victuals for the ships trading in and out of Saint-Tropez. It is interesting here to note that, contrary to
the conventional representation of Saint-Tropez as a “small fishing village”, this activity was secondary and largely dependent on the port activities in long-haul
trade. Returning intra-muros through the curious Porte du Revelen which in the early times of reconstruction was the only gateway into town, follow rue de La
Ponche (full of history both ancient and modern) and rue Saint Jean (spectacular view of the churchtower), coming out,
9 • Onto the quaint and lovely square place de l’Ormeau, the geographical centre of the Old Town, and, in the beginnings, the cemetery.
10 • From here, rue d’Aumale and rue des Remparts lead to the imposing mass of Tour Jarlier, the corner stone of the two walls
which ran perpendicularly down to the sea, and which completed the fortifications in the late 15th century, providing an excellent look-out facility on the
landward borders of the village. It was also used as the prison. Its original name l’aire du commun referred to the adjoining “common”, used for
threshing. Indeed the whole of this tightly-knit quarter extra-muros became associated with agricultural activities, as is testified by the street names:
Moulins, Bouchonniers, Bergère, Féniers, Treille.
11 • The latter leads to the rue du Portail Neuf and the flying buttresses of the Miséricorde. This 17th century chapel is crowned by a dome of
varnished tiles, and has a fine portal made of ophite, a rare green and veined stone quarried locally until to the 18th century. The entrance to the chapel is
situated rue Gambetta, formerly Grande Rue, where the wealthy merchants and ship-owners built their mansions in the late 17th and the 18th centuries, in the
midst of luxuriant gardens (some of these have survived urbanisation). They planted the splendid palm-trees still visible today, no doubt to underline their
social ascendancy.
12 • This street, which bears witness to the “golden age” of Saint-Tropez, leads to the vast place des Lices. Here, the thick foliage of the plane
trees, the breeze and the sunshine conjugate to create an exceptionally luminous aura. This is the privileged venue for the Provençal markets which
take place every Tuesday and Saturday morning, and for the aficionados of pétanque who foregather every afternoon to play passionately the national
game of bowls. From here you can return directly to the harbour via rue Sibilli or rue Clémenceau. Alternatively, proceed to the car-park end of the square, and
turn into one or other of the exotic alleys bearing evocative names and pervaded by a strange calm, and which lead to rue Allard, in the heart of la Bourgade, or
“New Town”. This quarter developed, a stone’s throw from the harbour, in the late 16th and 17th centuries in the vicinity of the Annonciade Chapel, now the Art
Museum of Saint-Tropez.
