Ramatuelle

Ramatuelle covers the south of the Saint-Tropez peninsula: its sea front is the beach of Pampelonne, 4.5 kilometres of sand between Cap Pinet and Cap Camarat, and the capes of Camarat and Taillat. The village itself is a defensive perched village on a spur of the Paillas hill, about 130 metres up, looking over the bay and the vineyard plain.

In 1056 the territory was given to the abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseille, which rebuilt the village; in 1592 the militia of Saint-Tropez razed it – the villagers, out of shot, are said to have thrown beehives at the attackers – and it was rebuilt entirely in 1620. The Saracen gate and the church belfry, an old watchtower, are older than that.