High above the village of Saint-Tropez towers the citadel built in the early 1600s. In the gateway of the citadel is an impressive relief by Paul Landowski, featuring a ship's cannon that is ready for action.
This foreboding hexagonal fortress now houses the Musée d'Histoire Maritime (Museum of Maritime History) in the space that was formerly the citadel's dungeons. The museum allows visitors to discover the maritime past of Saint-Tropez through stories of the men and women who shaped the history of the village.
Visitors can learn about the town's fishermen who traveled the seas of the world, from short fishing expeditions along Provence's coast to longer voyages aboard merchant sailing boats.
Beginning in the 16th century, enterprising fishermen began traveling beyond the Mediterranean Seas of Europe to the Ottoman Empire, then to Africa in the 18th century, and in the 20th century, to the far corners of the world, including Cape Horn, India, and the Far East.
Visitors can learn more about these exotic destinations and about local heroes such as Bailli de Suffren, the famous seaman of Saint-Tropez. The museum also has a wonderful viewpoint from the bastions with stunning panoramas of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez and the Massif des Maures mountain range.
