The guide · by Metro Mode
Saint-Raphaël
Félix Martin's Belle Époque resort under the red Esterel, from the Old Port to Le Trayas
Saint-Raphaël takes its name from a Romanesque church dedicated to the archangel Raphael, built around 1065 on the bishops of Fréjus's land; the fortified village grew round it. In Roman times villas lined the road to Forum Julii, and the bay of Agay sheltered the Portus Agathonis.
Bonaparte landed here on 9 October 1799, back from Egypt, and sailed from here for Elba on 28 April 1814. From the second half of the nineteenth century the mayor Félix Martin, an engineer, and the writer Alphonse Karr made the fishing village a resort; the railway station opened in 1863, and Valescure, in the pines and cork oaks behind the town, became a winter colony where Gounod composed Roméo et Juliette in 1867.
Read on
The commune runs east along the Corniche d'Or through Boulouris, Le Dramont, Agay and Anthéor to Le Trayas, under the red rock of the Esterel. On 15 August 1944 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Le Dramont, Anthéor and Le Veillat.
Highlights
- Place of worshipBasilique Notre-Dame de la VictoireA neo-Byzantine basilica of 1883–1887 by the Old Port, named after Lepanto
- Place of worshipÉglise des TempliersThe Romanesque church of the old village, rebuilt c. 1180–1200 over three earlier ones
- MuseumMusée Louis de FunèsA museum for Louis de Funès, who filmed Le Corniaud's campsite scenes here
- MuseumMusée archéologique de Saint-RaphaëlPrehistory, Roman shipwrecks and amphorae beside the medieval church
- Lighthousephare d'AgayThe square lighthouse of the Baumette point, with a stone to Saint-Exupéry
Five-star hotels
- Hôtel Restaurant la Villa Mauresque22 rooms
- Le s Roches Rouges67 rooms
Lists & itineraries
Everything, by kind
Sources
- Wikipédia (fr) : Saint-Raphaël (Var)
- Wikipedia (en): Saint-Raphaël, Var
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
- Wikidata
- INSEE IRIS / IGN (Licence Ouverte 2.0)