The History of Saint Tropez
Écrit par Administrator Mercredi, 07 Décembre 2011 00:00
Saint-Tropez is synonymous with sea, sun and sophistication – and is the place to be seen in the south of France during the summer months.
The fashionable fishing port on the Golfe de Saint-Tropez has been popular with the jet set since it was discovered by Brigitte Bardot in 1956 when she was filming Roger Vadim’s And God Created Woman.
The entire film was set in Saint Tropez, with many of the shots involving a scantily-clad Bardot pouting seductively on the golden sand a stone’s throw from many of our villas in Saint Tropez. The movie was a huge hit and put Bardot – and Saint-Tropez -placed firmly on the world’s radar.
The town is now one of the most famous in Europe, if not the world, and as a result Saint Tropez real estate is hugely sought after. There are a large number of luxury villas in Saint Tropez to rent and buy, and prices here are amongst the highest in the world.
But Saint Tropez has not always been so à la mode. The first fishing village is believed to have been established on the bay in ancient times and took its named from Torpes, a Roman nobleman who was converted to Christianity and became a martyr in 68 AD. Legend has it that a small boat carrying his body washed ashore at the site which is now Saint Tropez.
Throughout the Middle Ages the town was known for its fine sailors, navigators and naval strategists, many of which were actually Italian. Bizarrely Saint Tropez was populated with people from the Italian maritime port of Genoa in the 16th century, a move which paid off in 1637 when the town’s army of burly Italians fought off a fleet of 21 Spanish galleons.
In the 19th century sailors gave way to artists after the neo-Impressionist Paul Signac happening upon Saint Tropez whilst sheltering from a particularly bitter storm. Signac clearly understood the important of Saint Tropez real estate and built himself a villa in the town, to which he invited lots of his artistic friends such as Matisse.
Saint Tropez – and indeed many of the Provencal villas in Saint Tropez - were bombed heavily in the Second World War and the town was even used as an Allied landing site as the war was coming to an end.
Just over ten years after the end of World War II Bridget Bardot came to film ‘And God created Woman’ and the rest – as they say – is history.