Les Villas a St Tropez, Les Plages, La Ville - The City, Beaches and Villas of Saint Tropez

The town’s name derives from that of an early, semi-legendary martyr named Saint Torpes. His body landed at the present-day location of the town.

The captain had the privilege of raising a standing army, which drove away a fleet of Spanish galleons in 1637. Les Bravades des Espagnols is a local religious and military celebration commemorating this victory of the Tropezian militia over the Spanish.

The area was not taxed or levied by the French government during this time. However, this privilege was abrogated by King Louis XIV, who reasserted French control over the city.

The mission of the Japanese samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga, en route to Rome, visited Saint-Tropez in September 1615, in what is known as the first instance of Franco-Japanese relations.

During World War II, on August 15, 1944, it was the central site of a beach landing in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France. After the war it became the French existentialists’ summer retreat.

But it was in the 1950s — partly thanks to Brigitte Bardot — that Saint-Tropez villas received international recognition and exposure through such films as “Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez.”