GUIDED TOUR OF SAINT RAPHAEL
Saint-Raphaël is a ‘Commune’ of the Var, in the heart of Provence and it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and the town of Frejus.
Raphaël means “God’s cure” in Hebrew and is one of the 7 archangels always standing before the throne of God according to the Bible.
At the beginning of the Revolution, in 1707, Saint-Raphaël was just a village of a few hundred people and at the beginning of the 19th century it began to develop, as did the whole of the Mediterranean coast.
Fishing was the main activity and also the principal source of income.
Thus the ‘Commune’ took on a traditional look with 2 area neighbourhoods:
- The “Village” populated by farmers (agriculteurs). Here, you have the church San Raféu, dating from the 12th century with the archaeological museum in the presbytery.
- The “Marine” area that we are going to discover later which was settled by fishermen.
Every morning there is a fish, vegetable and flower market.
Artists were the first to become aware of the beauty of the coastline and discovered our pleasant climate, for example the famous writer Alphonse Karr who lived in a former washhouse that he converted into a villa (1867). He is considered to be the creator of Saint-Raphaël because he attracted crowds saying: “do not come here if you cannot stay or at least come back!”
Here we are in front of the town hall. You can see on the wall the French motto which is: “freedom, equality, brotherhood” and our apartment.
Here we have arrived at the second area: the “Marine”.
The church Notre Dame de la Victoire was built almost at the same time as the Casino in the 1880‘s.
The major religion in France is Catholicism even though other cultures are now taking hold, including the Muslim religion,
This Romano-Byzantine edifice is 850m². You can see a statue of the archangel Raphaël on the roof.
Now we are on the Promenade des Bains (Baths promenade) also called Promenade René Coty.
In the 1880’s luxury hotels and prestigious villas were built on the waterfront for the English, Belgian and Russian aristocracy.
The upper level of the “Bonaparte” car park with the long garden is the best location looking out over the bay and the old harbour.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the town was classified as one of the leading seaside resorts of the French Riviera.
Nowadays the town counts more than 30 thousand inhabitants but the population is multiplied by 3 during the summer.
Saint-Raphaël owes its interest to the diversity of activities (sailing, deep sea diving, provençal jousting, sea water therapy…), its many footpaths, its privileged climate, its environment and its different areas such as Valescure with its golf courses and the Esterel range of hills behind the town or Agay with its red rocks right down to the sea-bed.
