The French/ITALIAN RIVIERIA stretches from Menton on the East, Through Monaco, Nice, Antibes, Cannes, Frejus, and St Tropez on the West, (Been There ,Done That).
In 1860 Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, one of the architects of Italian unity with the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, negotiated support for Napoleon III in exchange for Savoy and the County of Nice. Which seemed prudent at the Time because of the Powerful Austria-Hungry Empire instance on Remaining a Power in Italy. Cavour and Garibaldi fortunately Beat the AUSTRIANS , Without the Assistance of the FRENCH, who Decided to Renege on the Treaty, and Provided NO SUPPORT, Yet Kept The RIVERA Territory!!!! { The Poor gullible Italians, were Screwed Again by the FRENCH , when they Lured a Reluctant Italy onto their side during WWI, then Short changed them at the Treaty of Versailles !!!!)
Some Enlightened People will acknowledge that NICE was Indeed ITALIAN for Almost ALL of it Existence, since the ROMANS, But Few Realize that the ITALIAN PRESENCE did indeed extend at LEAST as Far West as ST TROPEZ. the western Anchor of the RIVIERA.
ST. TROPEZ was named after an early, semi-legendary martyr named Saint Torpes. Towards the end of the ninth century with the fall of the Roman Empire, pirates and privateers attacked and sacked the region for the next 100 years, and in the 10th century the village of La Garde-Freinet, 15 km (9 mi) north of St. Tropez, was founded. From 890–972, Saint-Tropez and its surroundings became an Arabic-Muslim colony dominated by the nearby Saracen settlement of Fraxinet. In 940, Nasr ibn Ahmad was in control of Saint-Tropez. In 961–963, Audibert, son of Berenger, the pretender to the throne of Lombardy who was pursued by Otto I, hid at Saint-Tropez. In 972, the Muslims of Saint-Tropez held the abbot of Cluny Maïeul until he was released for ransom.
It appears that while the Muslims controlled the Surrounding Territory, in 976, William I Count of Provence, lord of Grimaud, began attacking the Muslims and in 980 built a Tower at the current location of the Suffren tower. In 1079 and 1218, Papal bulls mentioned the existence of a manor in Saint-Tropez, but during the next 400 years the area, was a "No Mans Land" with a gradual Depopulation, after the "dark age of plundering"
From 1436, Count René I (called "good King René") tried to repopulate the Provence, the French Riviera, and created the Barony of Grimaud and appealed to the ITALIAN GENOAN Raphael de Garezzio, a wealthy gentleman, by granting a number of privileges, including some previously reserved exclusively for Lords. Raphael de Garezzio then sent a fleet of caravels carrying sixty Genoese families who had left the overcrowded ITALIAN Riviera that landed in Saint-Tropez on 14 February 1470. They rebuilt and repopulated the area. About 10 years later, a great wall with two large watch towers stood watch protecting the new houses from sea and interior land attack. One tower is at the end of the "Grand Môle" and the other is at the entrance to the "Ponche".(Towers are still standing) On 19 July 1479 the new Home Act was signed, called: "The rebirth charter of Saint-Tropez".
ST.TROPEZ became a small ITALIAN Republic and in 1558, with its own fleet and army who successfully resisted attacks by the Turks, Spaniards, succored Fréjus and Antibes, and the Lérins Islands. In 1577, The lordship of Saint-Tropez became the prerogative of the de Suffren family. Again in 1637, the Tropezians drove away a fleet of Spanish galleons.
AFTER TWO HUNDRED THIRTY Years (230) In 1672, Louis XIV, reasserted French control over the city. SO, After Disputed Muslim and French Control, The ITALIAN Genovese CONTROLLED And CAUSED Prosperity, ST TROPEZ for 230 Years, the French Still OCCUPY ST. TROPEZ. for the Next 340 Years.
I WANT IT BACK !!!!! Mainly Because It is SUCH a GREAT PARTY SMALL CRAFT PORT, and In Saint Tropez, Tahiti beach, which had been popularised in the film And God Created Woman featuring Brigitte Bardot, emerged as a clothing-optional destination. The "clothing fights" between the gendarmerie and nudists become the main topic of a famous French comedy film series Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez ("The Policeman from Saint-Tropez") but in the end the nudists won. Topless sunbathing is now the norm for both men and women from Pampelonne beaches to yachts in the centre of Saint-Tropez port. The Tahiti beach is now "clothing-optional", but nudists often head to private, nudist beaches, like that in Cap d'Agde. WHAT A TOWN !!!!!. In 1960, I'm walking nude alone along the Tahiti Beach, taking in the "sights", (acres of "tits and ass, etc" and I hear my Name called, and it turns out to be an Ex-Girlfriend with her New Husband. How curiously fun.