|
Sainte-Maxime (; Provençal: ''Santa Maxima'') is a commune and city in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. I.e. on the French Riviera (''Côte d'Azur'') in southeastern France from Nice and from Marseille. ==Village== The small town is south facing at the northern shore of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. In the north the ''Massif des Maures'' mountain range protects it from cold winds of the Mistral. Sainte Maxime was founded around 1000 AD by the Monks from the Lérins Islands outside Cannes. They built a monastery and named the village after one of the Saints of their order - Maxime. Fishing was the mainstay for the inhabitants but during the early 19th century increasing amounts of lumber, cork, olive oil and wine was shipped to Marseilles and to Italy. The village grew and in the 20th century it started to attract artists, poets and writers who enjoyed the climate, the beautiful surroundings and the azure blue water. In front of the old town you find the characteristic tower - ''La Tour Carrée'' - built by the monks in the early 16th century to protect the village from invaders. With an addition of a battery of cannons and with the ''Tour du Portalet'' in Saint Tropez the whole bay was protected. As late as in the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon ordered a restoration of the battery while also adding cannons on the Lérins Islands. The tower is now a museum. On August 15, 1944, the beach of Sainte Maxime was at the centre of Operation Dragoon, the invasion and liberation of the Southern France during World War II. "Attack Force Delta", based around the 45th Division, landed at Sainte Maxime. There was fierce "house to house" fighting before the Germans were decimated and eventually surrendered. By the foot of the Harbour pier and by the beach ''La Garonette'' (far east in the commune), there are memorials at the respective landing places honoring the US troops. At the ''Garonette'' beach, but formally in Les Issambres, (Roquebrune-sur-Argens commune), the sailing centre is named ''La Batterie'', as it was the location of a German artillery battery. Nowadays, tourism is the largest source of revenue for Sainte Maxime, but the city remains lively all year round with 13 519 inhabitants (2007). There is the old town with shops, markets, restaurants, bars and cafés, opposite the harbour. On the pier, there are marine shops and an upscale restaurant. Here, there is also fast boat transportation with Les Bateaux Verts to Les Issambres, St Tropez and Port Grimaud. There is a shoreline promenade with parks, pine trees, boulodrome Prince Bertil, the tourist office and the city beaches, as well as a Casino with its own piece of white sand. In addition to the city beaches, there are the Blue Flag supervised ones. On the west side, ''The Croisette'' has a sailing school. On the east side of the town are ''La Nartelle, La Plage des Eléphants'' and ''La Garonette'' (also called ''Val D'Esquieres''), which all provide water-skiing and Jet-ski activities. In addition, there are several smaller beaches that are unsupervised. All adding up to 10 km of publicly accessible shoreline. There are eight golf courses within 30 minutes radius by car. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sainte-Maxime」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|