Saint-Tropez Towers, Saint-Tropez, France

As a result of being a coastal town and needing to protect itself from attack, St Tropez became well-fortified early on in its history. You can now visit three towers scattered across the city's coastline.

Originally, four towers were built to protect the coast and the port: Tour du Portalet, Tour la Vieille, Tour de Suffren, now lost, and the Tour Jarlier.

The Tour du Portalet and the Tour la Vieille, or Old Tower, look right out over the sea and are situated on either side of a cove called La Glaye, watching the entrance to the town from the Mediterranean. These two towers date from the 15th century and are situated in the historical fishermen quarter of La Ponche.

The last tower, and the most central one, is to be found on Rue Jarlier. This structure, built a little later than the others, dates from the 16th century. It confers a tranquillity and charm upon a street which is of considerable architectural interest.

The Tour Suffren bore the name of the ancient lords of Saint Tropez. Even if the tower is now lost, you can see the castle which they turned into their family home in the 18th century, in Saint Tropez's main square. It cannot be visited, but you can see its imposing stone exterior.

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User Reviews

Donatas Noreika (2 years ago)
Video about places in Saint-Tropez on TotalWalker YouTube channel!

Ar2r (3 years ago)
place worth to visit to realise how poor you are ?

London Review (4 years ago)
Very nice view

Luc016 (5 years ago)
Very nice place to see the entire port. Good area to sit after visiting this beautiful town. Only thing missing is a bit of shade to sit there! It's pretty quiet over there so if you like quiet places this is a good one!

ActivproTravel ActivproTravel (5 years ago)
I am very disappointed of this city, expensive shops for reach people, and nothing more. The city itself is ugly and neglected. Architecture is uninteresting. Pointless to go there if you don|t want rent a Yacht or buy expensive gift.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright discopalace

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Sigmaringen Castle

Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.

The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.

These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.

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