Port de Toulon

The Port de Toulon is the main base of the French Navy in the Mediterranean, and it is also a living part of the city, a working harbour on one of the finest natural roadsteads in Europe. The rade, the sheltered bay in which the port lies, is ringed by hills and almost closed off from the open sea by a long peninsula, which is why the site has been valued for centuries. Henri IV recognised its worth in the sixteenth century, and his successors, notably Louis XIV and his engineer Vauban, built the arsenal and the fortifications that made Toulon a great naval centre. Today the port is home to warships, submarines and the French aircraft carrier, and it also handles commercial traffic and ferries.

Walking along the quays gives a view of both worlds. The old harbour, known as the Vieille Darse, lies in front of the town hall, and it is lined with cafés and restaurants and filled with pleasure boats and fishing vessels. On the town hall facade, the two muscular figures known as the atlantes, carved by the sculptor Pierre Puget in the seventeenth century, appear to hold up the balcony and are among the best-known monuments in Toulon. The arsenal, with its walls and gate, stands next to the naval museum, the Musée national de la Marine, whose entrance is next to the arsenal gate, and the grey shapes of warships can often be seen from the quay, though access to naval areas is restricted and photography may be limited.

Toulon's modern history is closely tied to its port. In 1793, the siege of the town by British and royalist forces was ended by a young artillery officer named Napoleon Bonaparte, whose plan to bombard the harbour from a nearby height made his name. In 1942, when German forces occupied the south of France, the French fleet at Toulon was scuttled by its own crews to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. In August 1944, the Allied landings in Provence led to the liberation of the port after fierce fighting, and a memorial to the landings stands on Mont Faron, above the town, inaugurated by General de Gaulle in 1964.

Visitors can see the harbour from the water on boat tours of the rade, which pass the naval base, the forts and the beaches on the peninsula, and a ferry crosses to the neighbouring towns of La Seyne-sur-Mer and Les Sablettes. The cable car up Mont Faron gives a sweeping view of the port and the bay. The Fort Balaguier, the Marché de Toulon, the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Toulon, the Promenade du Mourillon and the Jardin de la Plage de la Pointe du Zouave are other places to see.

The port suits walkers, history lovers and anyone fascinated by ships. Go in the morning, when the market and quays are lively.