... with its Mediterranean atmosphere, stretches over 220 acres and includes about 2 000 houses.

Visitors must leave their car at one of the fortified gates at the villages entrances and explore on foot or by boat. The village's tiny islands are linked by Venetian-style bridges, decorated with columns, old-fashioned lamp posts, trompe-l'œil and a maze of arcades - especially around the more recent Place du Sud. A real esthetic success which has since been reproduced in the United States.

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... The late 13th century fortified walls encircled part of the village and castle. Reworked in the 15th century, the castle was then destroyed during the Religious Wars. Rebuilt in the17th century, it was abandoned after the French Revolution.

Comprising a main building flagged by four circular towers, whose ruins reveal the three inner floors, this highly-fortified castle was protected by three walls, the largest of which was seven metres high. Today, just one more-or-less intact vaulted room remains. From the castle unbeatable panorama over the village, across the plain to Port Grimaud and the Bay of Saint-Tropez.

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