Toulon (
ProvençalOccitan , known also as Lenga d'òc in Occitan or Langue d'oc in French is a Romance language spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain...
Occitan:
Tolon in classical norm or
Touloun in Mistralian norm,
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
:
Tolone) is a city in southern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and a large military harbour on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur
régionFrance is administratively divided into 25 regions , of which 21 are on mainland France, and four are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
, Toulon is the
préfecture (capital) of the Var
département, in the former
provinceThe Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces...
of
ProvenceProvence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
.
The population of the city (
communeThe commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, meaning a small gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis, things held in common.French communes are roughly...
) in 2005 was approximately 167,400 making Toulon the fifteenth largest city in France. The population of the Toulon metropolitan area (
aire urbaineThe aire urbaine is a statistical region created by the INSEE that is comprised by a commuter belt surrounding a contiguous urban core...
in French) in 1999 was 564,823, making Toulon the tenth largest metropolitan area, after Strasbourg, in France.
Toulon is an important centre for naval construction, fishing, wine making, and the manufacture of aeronautical equipment, armaments, maps, paper, tobacco, printing, shoes, and electronic equipment.
The
military port of ToulonThe military port of Toulon is the principal base of the French Navy, sited in the city of Toulon. It holds most of France's force d'action navale, comprising the aircraft carriers Charles de Gaulle as well as its nuclear attack submarines, in total more than 60% of the tonnage of the French...
is the major
navalA navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
center on France's Mediterranean coast, home of the French Navy aircraft carrier
Charles De GaulleCharles de Gaulle is the only serving French aircraft carrier and is the flagship of the French Navy . She is the tenth French aircraft carrier, the first French nuclear-powered surface vessel, and the first and only nuclear-powered carrier built outside of the United States Navy...
and her battle group. The
French Mediterranean FleetThe French Mediterranean Fleet is one of the two major forces of the French Navy. It is based at the French port of Toulon to the east of Marseille. Its predecessor was the Flotte du Levant.-Levant Fleet:...
is based in Toulon.
Prehistory
Archeological excavations, such as those at the
Cosquer CaveThe Cosquer cave is located in the Calanque de Morgiou near Marseille, France, not very far from Cap Morgiou. This cave, the entrance of which is located undersea nowadays, was discovered by Henri Cosquer in 1985 and declared to the authorities in 1991....
near
MarseilleMarseille , formerly known as Massalia , is the 2nd most populous French city as well as the oldest city in France...
,show that the coast of
ProvenceProvence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
was inhabited since at least the
PaleolithicThe Paleolithic or Palaeolithic Age, Era, or Period, or Old Stone Age, is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human technological history...
era.
GreekThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
colonists came from Asia Minor in about the seventh century BC and established trading depots along the coast, including one, called Olbia, at Saint-Pierre de l'Almanarre south of
HyèresHyères is a town and commune in the southeast of France, in the Var département, located 15 km east of Toulon. According to the town's official website, at the 1999 census it had a population of 53,258 inhabitants...
, to the east of Toulon. A
CeltCelts is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic language...
ic (possibly) people, the Ligurians, settled in the area beginning in the fourth century BC.
Toulon harbour became a shelter for trading ships, and the name of the town gradually changed from Telo to Tholon, Tolon, and Toulon.
Roman era
In the second century BC the residents of Massalia (present-day Marseille) called upon the Romans to help them pacify the region. The Romans defeated the Ligurians and began to start their own colonies along the coast. A Roman settlement was founded at the present location of Toulon, with the name Telo Martius - Telo, either for the goddess of springs or from the Latin
tol, the base of the hill - and
MartiusMartius may refer to:*Campus Martius, a site in Rome*Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius , German botanistSee also:* Marcius...
, for the god of war. Telo Martius became one of the two principal Roman
dyeA dye can generally be described as a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and may require a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
manufacturing centers, producing the purple color used in imperial robes, made from the local sea snail called
murexMurex is a genus of medium to large sized predatory tropical sea snails. These are carnivorous marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, the murexes or rock snails....
, and from the acorns of the oak trees.
Arrival of Christianity
Toulon was Christianized in the fifth century, and the first cathedral built.
HonoratusSaint Honoratus was Archbishop of Arles.There is some disagreement concerning his place of birth, and the date of his death is still disputed, being according to certain authors, January 14 or January 15. It is believed that he was born in the north of Gaul and that he belonged to an illustrious...
and Gratianus of Toulon (Gratien), according to the
Gallia ChristianaThe Gallia Christiana, a type of work of which there have been several editions, is a documentary catalogue or list, with brief historical notices, of all the Catholic dioceses and abbeys of France from the earliest times, also of their occupants....
, were the first bishops of Toulon, but
Louis DuchesneAbbé Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions....
gives
AugustalisAn augustalis or augustale was a gold coin minted in the Kingdom of Sicily beginning around 1231. It was the first gold issue of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily , and was minted until his death. It bore a Latin inscription and was widely circulated in Italy. It was patterned...
as the first historical bishop. He assisted at councils in 441 and 442 and signed in 449 and 450 the letters addressed to
Pope Leo IPope Leo I, or Pope Saint Leo the Great , was pope from 29 September, 440 to 10 November, 461.He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the earliest pope of the Roman Catholic Church to have received the title "the Great"...
from the province of Arles.
A
Saint CyprianSaint Cyprian of Toulon was bishop of Toulon during the 6th century. Born at Marseilles, he was the favorite pupil of St. Caesarius of Arles by whom he was trained. Caesarius ordained him in 506 to the diaconate, and, in 516, consecrated him as bishop of Toulon.St...
, disciple and biographer of St. Cæsarius of Arles, is also mentioned as a Bishop of Toulon. His episcopate, begun in 524, had not come to an end in 541; he converted to Catholicism two Visigothic chiefs, Mandrier and Flavian, who became
anchoriteAnchorite /anchoress , , denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic and, circumstances permitting, Eucharist-focused life...
s and martyrs on the peninsula of Mandrier. In 1095 a new cathedral was built in the city by Gilbert, Count of Provence. As barbarians invaded the region and Roman power crumbled, the town was frequently attacked by pirates and the Saracens.
Early Modern era
- 1486: Provence becomes part of France.
- 1494: The first military shipyard of Toulon is constructed by Charles VIII of France
Charles VIII, called the Affable, , was King of France from 1483 to his death. Charles was a member of the House of Valois...
.
- 1497: A fleet from Genoa
Genoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000...
blockades Toulon for several months.
- 1524: The Tour Royale, Toulon
The Tour Royale is a fort built in the 16th century to protect the entrance of the Petit Rade, the naval port of Toulon...
is completed to protect the harbor. In the same year, the new fort is sold by its commander to the attacking Imperial Army of the Connetable de Bourbon, and the city surrenders.
- 1543: Francis I
Francis I may refer to:* Francis I, Duke of Brittany * Francis I, Duke of Lorraine * Francis I of France...
invites the fleet of OttomanThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
Admiral BarbarossaBarbarossa may refer to:In history:*Emperor Barbarossa or Frederick I , Holy Roman Emperor**Barbarossa city, the nickname for five cities in Germany*Barbarossa I or Oruç Reis , an Ottoman-Turkish privateer and Bey of Algiers...
to Toulon as part of the Franco-Ottoman allianceThe Franco-Ottoman alliance, also Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between the king of France Francis I and the Turkish ruler of the Ottoman Empire Suleiman the Magnificent. The alliance has been called "the first nonideological diplomatic alliance of its kind between a...
. The residents are forced to leave, and the Ottoman sailors occupy the town for the winter (see Siege of Nice#The Turks in Toulon).
- 1564: Charles IX
Charles IX may refer to:* Charles IX of France * Charles IX of Sweden...
visits Toulon as part of his royal tour.
1600-1862
- 1660: Under Louis XIV and his Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert served as the French minister of finance from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. He was described by Mme de Sévigné as "Le Nord", because he was cold and unemotional. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister...
, an expanded arsenal and new fortifications are built by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.
- 1707: Toulon successfully resists a siege by the Imperial Army led by the Duke of Savoy and Prince Eugene, during the War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, principally the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Portugal, and the Duchy of Savoy, against the Kingdoms of France and Spain and the Electorate of Bavaria, over a possible unification of the Kingdoms of...
.
- 1720: Toulon is ravaged by the black plague, coming from Marseille. Thirteen thousand people, or half the population, die.
- 1790: After the French Revolution
The French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, Toulon becomes the administrative center of the département of the Var.
- 1793: The town is handed to the British fleet by its Royalist inhabitants. At the siege of Toulon
The Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon....
, The British are expelled by a French force whose artillery is led by a young captain, Napoleon Bonaparte. In reprisal, the town loses its status as department capital and is renamed Port-la-Montagne.
- 1803-1805: The British fleet of Admiral Horatio Nelson blockades Toulon.
- 1820: The statue Venus de Milo
Aphrodite of Milos , better known as the Venus de Milo, is an ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture. Created at some time between 130 and 100 BCE, it is believed to depict Aphrodite the Greek goddess of love and beauty...
is discovered at Milo and seen by a French naval officer, Emile Voutier, who admires it, persuades the French Ambassador to Turkey to buy it, and brings it Toulon on his ship, the Estafette. It is then taken to the LouvreThe Musée du Louvre or officially the Grand Louvre — in English, the Louvre Museum or Great Louvre, or simply the Louvre — is the largest national museum of France, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris, located on the Right Bank of the...
.
- 1830: A French fleet departs Toulon for the conquest of Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
.
- 1862: Toulon Opera
The Toulon Opera , innaugurated in 1862, is the second-largest opera house in France, after the Palais Garnier in Paris, and is a national historic monument of France. It is currently the home of the Opéra Toulon Provence Méditerranée, under the direction of Claude-Henri Bonnet...
opens
Modern history
In 1867, on orders of Napoleon III General
François Achille BazaineFrançois Achille Bazaine was a French General and from 1864, a Marshal of France, "who suffered the fate of Generals who win every battle except the last". He was the first Marshal who had started as a legionnaire and like the great Marshals of the First Empire, he had risen from the ranks...
arrived in Toulon without an official welcome after abandoning the Mexican military campaign and Emperor
Maximilian I of MexicoMaximilian I of Mexico was a member of the Imperial House of Habsburg-Lorraine. After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico, during the Second Mexican Empire, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists on 10 April 1864...
.
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, after the Allied landings in
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
(
Operation TorchOperation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started 8 November 1942....
) the German Army occupied southern France (
Case AntonOperation Anton was the codename for the military occupation of Vichy France carried out by Germany and Italy in 1942.-Background:...
), leading to the
scuttling of the French Fleet at ToulonThe French fleet in Toulon was scuttled on 27 November 1942 on the order of the Admiralty of Vichy France to avoid capture by Nazi German forces.-Context:...
(27 November 1942). The city was bombed by the Allies in November of the following year, with much of the port destroyed and five hundred residents killed. Toulon was captured by the
Free French ForcesThe Free French Forces were French fighters in World War II who decided to continue fighting against Axis forces after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation.-Definition:...
of General
Jean de Lattre de TassignyJean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny was a French military hero of World War II and commander in the Indochina War.-Early life:...
on 28 August 1944.
In 1974 Toulon became again the préfecture, or administrative center, of the Var. Five years later the University of Toulon opened. Toulon is one of four French cities where the extreme-right
Front NationalFront National can mean:* Front National , a French political party* Front National , a World War II French Resistance group* Front National , a Belgian political party...
won the local elections (1995).
The Old Town
The old town of Toulon, the historic center located between the port, the Boulevard de Strasbourg and the Cours Lafayette, is a pedestrian area with narrow streets, small squares and many fountains. Toulon Cathedral is located here. The area is also home of the celebrated Provencal market which takes place every morning on the Cours Lafayette, which features local products. The old town had decayed in the 1980s and 1990s, but recently many of the fountains and squares have been restored, and many new shops have opened.
The Fountains of Old Toulon
The Old Town of Toulon is known for its fountains, found in many of the small squares, each with a different character. The original system of fountains was built in the late seventeenth century; most were rebuilt in the eighteenth or early nineteenth century, and have recently been restored.
The Upper Town of Baron Haussmann
The upper town, between the Boulevard de Strasbourg and the railroad station, was built in the mid nineteenth century under Louis Napoleon. The project was begun by
Baron HaussmannGeorges-Eugène Haussmann , who called himself Baron Haussmann, was a French civic planner whose name is associated with the rebuilding of Paris...
, who was prefect of the Var in 1849. Improvements to the neighborhood included the
Toulon OperaThe Toulon Opera , innaugurated in 1862, is the second-largest opera house in France, after the Palais Garnier in Paris, and is a national historic monument of France. It is currently the home of the Opéra Toulon Provence Méditerranée, under the direction of Claude-Henri Bonnet...
, the place de la Liberté, the Grand Hôtel, the Gardens of Alexander I, the Chalucet Hospital, the palais de Justice, the train station, and the building now occupied by Galeries Lafayette, among others. Haussmann went on to use the same style on a much grander scale in the rebuilding of central Paris.
The Harbour and Arsenal
The Toulon harbour is one of the best natural anchorages on the Mediterranean, and one of the largests harbours in Europe. A naval arsenal and shipyard was built in 1599, and small sheltered harbor, the Veille Darse, was built in 1604-1610 to protect ships from the wind and sea. The shipyard was greatly enlarged by Cardinal Richelieu, who wished to make France into a Mediterranean naval power. Further additions were made by
Jean-Baptiste ColbertJean-Baptiste Colbert served as the French minister of finance from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. He was described by Mme de Sévigné as "Le Nord", because he was cold and unemotional. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister...
and
VaubanSébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and in breaking through them...
.
Le Mourillon
Le Mourillon is a small seaside neighborhood to the east of Toulon, near the entrance of the harbour. It was once a fishing village, and then became the home of many of the officers of the French fleet. Mourillon has a small fishing port, next to a sixteenth-century fort, Fort Saint Louis, which was reconstructed by Vauban. In the 1970s the city of Toulon built a series of sheltered sandy beaches in Mourillon, which today are very popular with the Toulonais and with naval families. The Museum of Asian Art is located in a house on the waterfront near Fort St. Louis.
Mount Faron
Mount Faron (584 meters) dominates the city of Toulon. The top can be reached either by a cable car from Toulon, or by a narrow and terrifying road which ascends from the west side and descends on the east side. The road is one of the most challenging stages of the annual
Paris-NiceParis–Nice, "the race to the sun", is a professional cycling stage race held each March.The first Paris–Nice was in 1933 when the winner was Alfons Schepers from Belgium. The most successful cyclist in Paris–Nice was Seán Kelly from Ireland. He won seven consecutive titles .Although the name is...
and
Tour MéditerranéenTour Méditerranéen is a professional road bicycle racing event held in southern France along the Mediterranean Sea. The Tour Méditerranéen is a six-day stage race that began in 1974 and since 2005 has been a part of the UCI Europe Tour...
bicycle races.
At the top of Mount Faron is a memorial dedicated to the 1944 Allied landings in Provence (
Operation DragoonOperation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France, on August 15, 1944, as part of World War II. The invasion took place between Toulon and Cannes.- Background :...
) , and to the liberation of Toulon.
Vauban's fortifications
Beginning in 1678,
VaubanSébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and in breaking through them...
constructed an elaborate system of fortifications around Toulon. Some parts, such as the section that once ran along the present-day Boulevard de Strasbourg, were removed in the mid-nineteenth century, so the city could be enlarged, but other parts remain. One part that can be visited is the Port d'Italie, one of the old city gates. Napoleon Bonaparte departed on his triumphant Italian campaign from this gate in 1796.
Climate
Toulon has a
Mediterranean climateA hi Mediterranean climate resembles the climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, which includes most of the area with this climate type worldwide...
, characterized by abundant and strong sunshine, dry summers, and rain which is rare but sometimes torrential; and by hot summers and mild winters. Because of its proximity to the sea, the temperature is relatively moderate.
The average temperature in January, the coldest month, is 9.3 degrees C., the warmest of any other city in metropolitan France. In January the maximum average temperature is 12.7 degrees C. and the average minimum temperature is 5.8 degrees C.
The average temperature in July, the warmest month, is 23.9 degrees C., with an average maximum of 29.1 degrees C. and an average minimal temperature of 18.8 degrees C.
Toulon is the city with the most sunshine annually in France; an average of 2,899 hours per year.
Average rainfall is 665 millimetres per year. The driest month is July with 6.6 mm., and the wettest is October, with 93.9 mm. It rains less than 60 days per year (an average of 59.7 days) and the amount of precipitation is very unequal in the different seasons. In February, the month with the most rain, it rains 7.1 days, but with only 88.3 millimetres of rain, while in October there are 5.9 days of rain. July, with 1.3 days of rain, is usually the driest month, but the driest month can fall anywhere between May and September. Autumn is characterized by torrential but brief rains; the winter by more precipitation spread out over loner periods.
Because of the proximity to the sea, freezing temperatures are rare; an average of 2.9 days a year, and lasting frosts (when the maximum temperature remains less or equal to zero) are non-existent. Snow is also very rare (barely 1.5 days per year on average) and it is even more rare for the snow to last during the day (0.3 days a year on average).
One distinctive feature of the Toulon climate is the
windWind is the flow of air or other gases that compose an atmosphere . On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air...
, with 115 days a year of strong winds; usually either the cold and dry
MistralThe mistral is a strong, cold and usually dry regional wind in France, coming from the north, which accelerates when it passes through the valleys of the Rhone and the Durance Rivers to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea around in the Camargue region. It affects the northeast of the plain of...
or the
TramontaneTramontane is a classical name for a northern wind. The exact form of the name and precise direction varies from country to country. The word came to English from Italian tramontana, which developed from Latin trānsmontānus , "beyond the mountains/across the mountains", referring to the alps in...
from the north, the wet
Marin-Places:*Marin, Haute-Savoie, a commune*Marín, Nuevo León, a town and municipality*Marin, Sălaj*Marín, Pontevedra, a municipality in Galicia*Marin-Epagnier, in Neuchâtel**Marin, a village in Marin-Epagnier*Marin County, California...
; or the
SiroccoSirocco, scirocco, jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes...
sometimes bearing reddish sand from Africa; or the wet and stormy
LevantThe Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by...
from the east. (See
Winds of ProvenceThe Winds of Provence, the region of southeast France along the Mediterranean from the Alps to the mouth of the Rhone River, are an important feature of Provençal life, and each one has a traditional local name, in the Provençal language....
.) The windiest month is January, with an average of 12.5 days of strong winds. The least windy month is September, with 7 days of strong winds. In winter, the Mistral can make the air feel extremely cold, even though the temperature is mild.
The climate is dry and the humidity in Toulon is usually low. The average humidity is 56 percent, with little variation throughout the year; the driest months are July and August with 50 percent, and the most humid months are November and December with 60 percent.
Source:
Wikipedia article in French
Museums
Toulon has a number of museums.
The
Museum of the French Navy (Musée national de la marine) is located on Place Monsenergue, next on the west side of the old port, a short distance from the Hotel de Ville. The Museum was founded in 1814, during the reign of the Emperor Napoleon. It is located today behind what was formerly the monumental gate to the Arsenal of Toulon, built in 1738. The building of the museum, along with the clock tower next to it, is one of the few buildings of the port and arsenal which survived Allied bombardments during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It contains displays tracing the history of Toulon as a port of the
French NavyThe French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military...
. Highlights include large eighteenth century ship models used to teach seamanship, models of the aircraft carrier
Charles De Gaulle.
The
Museum of Old Toulon and its Region (Musée du vieux Toulon et de sa région). The Museum was founded in 1912, and contains a collection of maps, paintings, drawings, models and other artifacts showing the history of the city.
The
Museum of Asian Arts (Musée des arts asiatiques), in Mourillon. Located in a house with garden which once belonged to the son and later the grandson of author
Jules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who helped pioneer the science-fiction genre. He is best known for his novels A Journey to the Center of the Earth , From the Earth to the Moon , Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea , Around the World in Eighty Days and The Mysterious Island...
, the museum contains a small but interesting collection of art objects, many donated by naval officers from the time of the French colonization of Southeast Asia. It includes objects and paintings from India, China, Southeast Asia, Tibet and Japan.
The
Museum of Art (Musée d'art) was created in 1888, the museum contains collections of modern and contemporary art, as well as paintings of provence from the seventeenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. It owns works by landscape artists of Provence from the late nineteenth century (Guigou, Aiguier, Courdouan, Ziem), and the Fauves of Provence (Camoin, Chabaud, Verdilhan). The contemporary collections contain works from 1960 to today representing the New Realism Movement (Arman, César, Christo, Klein, Raysse); Minimalist Art (
Sol LewittSol LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism. LeWitt rose to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" but was prolific in a wide range of media including drawing, printmaking, and painting.He has been the subject of...
,
Donald JuddDonald Clarence Judd was a minimalist artist . In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for the constructed object and the space created by it, ultimately achieving a rigorously democratic presentation without compositional hierarchy...
); Support Surface (Cane, Viallat côtoient Arnal, Buren, Chacallis) and an important collection of photographs by
Henri Cartier-BressonHenri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism, an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography...
, Dieuzaide,
Edouard BoubatEdouard Boubat was a well known French art photographer. He was born in Montmartre, Paris. After studying typography and graphic arts at the Ecole Estienne, he worked in a printing company but dreamed of being a photographer. After WWII he decided to go for his passion and become a photographer...
,
Willy RonisWilly Ronis was a French photographer, the best-known of whose work shows life in post-war Paris and Provence.-Early life:...
and
André KertészAndré Kertész , born Kertész Andor, was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his groundbreaking contributions to photographic composition and by his efforts in establishing and developing the photo essay...
).
The
Memorial Museum to the Landings in Provence (Mémorial du débarquement de Provence) is located on the summit of Mount Faron, this small museum, opened in 1964 by President
Charles De GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II...
, commemorates the Allied landing in Provence in August 1944 with photos, weapons and models.
The
Museum of Natural History of Toulon and the Var (Musée d'histoire naturelle de Toulon et du Var) was founded in 1888, has a large collection of displays about dinosaurs, birds, mammals, and minerals, mostly from the region.
The
Hôtel des arts was opened in 1998, presents five exhibits a year of works by well-known contemporary artists. Featured artists have included
Sean ScullySean Scully is an Irish-born American painter and printmaker who has twice been named a Turner Prize nominee. His work is in major museums worldwide.-Life and work:...
,
Jannis KounellisJannis Kounellis was born on March 23, 1936 in Piraeus, Greece. He studied in art college in Athens until 1956 and at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome....
,
Claude ViallatClaude Viallat is a French contemporary painter.Born in Nîmes, he grew up in Aubais, a French village with a strong bull tradition...
,
Per KirkebyPer Kirkeby is a Danish painter, poet, filmmaker and sculptor-Biography :1962 Studies at the Experimental Art School in Copenhagen; works in the School on painting, graphic arts, 8 millimeter films and performance pieces...
, and
Vik MunizVik Muniz is a Brazilian born, New York based artist who experiments with media. His works are fleeting and consist of objects arranged to make an image, he then photographs the arrangement resulting in the final piece.-Work:...
.
Literary
Toulon figures prominently in
Victor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a French poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's
Les MisérablesLes Misérables is a novel by French author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century...
. It is the location of the infamous prison, the
bagne of ToulonThe bagne of Toulon was the notorious prison in Toulon, France, made famous as the place of imprisonment of Jean Valjean, the hero of Les Miserables, the novel by Victor Hugo...
, in which the protagonist Jean Valjean spends nineteen years in hard labour. Toulon is also the birthplace of the novel's antagonist, Javert.
One portion of the wall of the old bagne, or prison, where Jean Valjean was supposedly held still stands to the right of the entrance of the Old Harbor.
Joseph ConradJoseph Conrad was a Polish-born British novelist, who in 1886 became a British subject....
's last novel,
The RoverThe Rover may refer to:*The Rover by Joseph Conrad*The Rover by Aphra Behn*"The Rover" by Led Zeppelin*"The Irish Rover", a traditional Irish song*The Rover , out of Liverpool, Nova Scotia...
, is also set around Toulon.
Gastronomy
Local food highlights include:
- cuisine from the Mediterranean and from Provence
- the cade toulonnaise, a speciality composed of chickpea flour
- the Chichi Frégi, a type of donut from Provence.
Sport
The best of the city's clubs are the
rugby unionRugby union is a full contact team sport, a form of football which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. It is played with an oval-shaped ball, outdoors on a level field, usually with a grass surface, 100 m...
team
RC ToulonRC Toulonnais is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
(gained promotion to the Top 14 in 2008), the
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
team
Hyères-Toulon Var BasketHyères-Toulon Var Basket is a professional basketball club based in Hyères and Toulon, France playing in the Pro A.Created by the merger of Omni Sport Hyerois and Club Sportif Toulonnais, the club shares its home games between the Espace 3000 in Hyères and the Palais des Sports in Toulon....
and the women's handball team :fr:Toulon St-Cyr Var Handball, all playing in the top division of their respective sports.
The city hosts the final four of the annual
Toulon TournamentThe Toulon Tournament is a football tournament which traditionally features invited national teams composed of under-21 players, although the first tournament in 1967 featured club teams...
- an international under 21
footballAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
tournament.
The top football club is the
Sporting Toulon VarSporting Toulon Var is a football club from Toulon, France, who currently play in the French fourth division . The club, which was founded in 1944, is presided by Alain Bencivengo and managed by Dragan Cvetkovic.- History :...
, currently playing at the fourth level of French Football (
Championnat de France AmateursThe Championnat de France amateur is a French football competition; the equivalent of the fourth division, below the Championnat National.- How it works :The "Championnat de France amateur" consists of 72 clubs spread into 4 parallel groups of 18...
). Famous players such as
Delio OnnisDelio Onnis is a retired Argentine football forward. He was nicknamed "el Tano" in Argentina.He is still today the French championship highest scorer, scoring 299 goals from 1972 to 1986 for Stade de Reims, AS Monaco FC, Tours FC and Sporting Toulon Var.-Career:Born in Italy, he however, has...
,
Jean TiganaJean Amadou Tigana is a football manager and former player, having played in midfield and managed professional football extensively throughout France, including 52 appearances and 1 goal for the France national football team during the 1980s.-Playing career:Tigana started his professional career...
,
Christian DalgerChristian Dalger is a former football striker from France, who earned six international caps for the French national team during the 1970s, scoring two goals....
David GinolaDavid Ginola is a former French international football player who has also worked as an actor and model....
or
Sébastien SquillaciSébastien Squillaci is a French footballer who is a centre back, currently playing for Sevilla FC of La Liga.- AS Monaco :...
have played for Sporting.
| Club |
Sport |
League |
Stadium |
| RC Toulon RC Toulonnais is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
|
Rugby union Rugby union is a full contact team sport, a form of football which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. It is played with an oval-shaped ball, outdoors on a level field, usually with a grass surface, 100 m...
|
Top 14 |
Stade Mayol Stade Mayol is a multi-purpose stadium in Toulon, France. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and is the home stadium of RC Toulonnais. The stadium is able to hold 13,700 people....
|
| :fr:Toulon St-Cyr Var Handball |
HandballHandball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass and bounce a ball to throw it into the goal of the opposing team...
|
:fr:Championnat de France de handball féminin |
Gymnase Vert Coteau |
| Hyères-Toulon Var Basket Hyères-Toulon Var Basket is a professional basketball club based in Hyères and Toulon, France playing in the Pro A.Created by the merger of Omni Sport Hyerois and Club Sportif Toulonnais, the club shares its home games between the Espace 3000 in Hyères and the Palais des Sports in Toulon....
|
BasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a 10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
|
Pro A The LNB is the top men's French professional basketball league. There are two divisions: French Pro A League and French Pro B League .-Pro A:...
|
Palais des Sports Palais des sports de Toulon, also known as Palais des sports Jauréguiberry is an indoor sporting arena located in Toulon, France. The capacity of the arena is 4,200 people. It is currently the home of the Hyères-Toulon Var Basket basketball team. It hosted the preliminary rounds of the 2007 World...
and Espace 3000Espace 3000 is an indoor sporting arena located in Hyères, France. The capacity of the arena is 2,500 people. It is currently home to the Hyères-Toulon Var Basket basketball team....
|
| Sporting Toulon Var Sporting Toulon Var is a football club from Toulon, France, who currently play in the French fourth division . The club, which was founded in 1944, is presided by Alain Bencivengo and managed by Dragan Cvetkovic.- History :...
|
Football |
Championnat de France Amateurs The Championnat de France amateur is a French football competition; the equivalent of the fourth division, below the Championnat National.- How it works :The "Championnat de France amateur" consists of 72 clubs spread into 4 parallel groups of 18...
|
:fr:Stade de Bon Rencontre |
Famous people
Toulon was the birthplace of:
- Jean Joseph Marie Amiot
Jean Joseph Marie Amiot was a FrenchJesuit missionary.-Life:Joseph Marie Amiot was born at Toulon. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1737 and was sent in 1750 as a missionary to China. He soon won the confidence of the Qianlong Emperor and spent the remainder of his life at Beijing...
, JesuitThe Society of Jesus is a Catholic religious order of clerks regular whose members are called Jesuits.Jesuits are the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, with 18,815 members—13,305 priests, 2,295 scholastic students, 1,758 brothers and 827 novices—as of January 2008, although the...
- Laurent Emmanuelli
Laurent Emmanuelli, born September 19 1976 in Toulon is a French Rugby Union player who is a Prop for Top 14 side ASM Clermont Auvergne. He has formerly played for RC Toulonnais, Stade Montois and Stade Français Paris....
, rugby union prop, returning to play for RC Toulon in 2009–10
- Capucine
Capucine was a French actress and fashion model best known for her comedic roles in The Pink Panther and What's New Pussycat? . She appeared in 35 films between 1949 and 1989.-Early life:...
, actressAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
- Bastien Salabanzi
Bastien Salabanzi is a professional skateboarder. His stance is "REGULAR"He won his first contest at the age of 11 in Marseille, France...
, Professional skateboarder
- Félix Mayol
Félix Mayol was a French singer and entertainer.Mayol was born in Toulon, France. His parents were both amateurs singers or actors, who arranged for Felix to make his debut stage at six years of age....
, singer and entertainer, and namesake of RC Toulon's stadiumStade Mayol is a multi-purpose stadium in Toulon, France. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and is the home stadium of RC Toulonnais. The stadium is able to hold 13,700 people....
- Raimu
Raimu was the stage name for the French actor Jules Auguste Muraire .-Biography:Born in Toulon in the Var département, he made his stage debut there in 1899...
, actor
- Gilbert Bécaud
Gilbert Bécaud was a French singer, composer and actor, known as Monsieur 100,000 Volts for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are "Nathalie" and "Et Maintenant", a 1961 release that became an English language hit as "What Now My Love"...
, singer
- Mireille Darc
Mireille Darc is a French model and actress. She was Alain Delon's longtime co-star and companion. She appeared as a lead character in Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 film Week End.-Biography:...
, actress
- Sébastien Squillaci
Sébastien Squillaci is a French footballer who is a centre back, currently playing for Sevilla FC of La Liga.- AS Monaco :...
, French International footballer
- Jean Blondel
Jean Blondel is a French political scientist specialising in comparative politics. He is currently Emeritus Professor at the European University Institute in Florence, and visiting professor at the University of Siena....
, political scientist
- LiLi Roquelin
LiLi Roquelin is a French-born American trip-hop and alternative rock singer-songwriter from Astoria, Queens. Roquelin is most notable for her song, "I Saw You", which won the award for Best Music Video at the Queens Film Festival in November of 2008.-Biography:Roquelin grew up in the south of...
, singer-songwriter
- Emmanuel Bertin, inventor of kite surfing
- Lucio Costa
Lucio Costa was a Brazilian architect and urban planner.One of the earliest and most important modernist architects in Brazil, Lucio Costa became famous for a long career in which he built little, wrote much, and became involved in a number of high-profile controversies.- Career :Educated at the...
, architect and urban planner
- Robert Busnel
Robert Busnel was a French basketball player, coach and administrator.He played for the French national team in 1934-1949, winning silver medal in the 1949 European Championship....
, basketball player
- Anne Golon
Anne Golon is a French author, better known to English speaking readers as Sergeanne Golon. She has written a series of novels about a heroine Angelique....
, author, has written a series of novels about a heroine AngeliqueAngelique is series of 13 French historical adventure books by the novelist duo Anne and Serge Golon. Some of these books were then adapted into 5 popular movies.-Book series:*Angélique, Marquise des Anges...
- Loïc Jean-Albert
Loïc Jean-Albert , but grew up on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. Known as the Flying Dude from a popular YouTube video, Loic is an expert parachuter, and among a group reported in 2007 to be developing and testing a wing suit for landing without a parachute.-External links:***...
, expert parachuter
- Maryse Joissains-Masini
Maryse Joissains-Masini is a member of the National Assembly of France. She represents the Bouches-du-Rhône department, and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement. She is also the mayor of Aix-en-Provence....
, mayor of Aix-en-ProvenceAix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city in southern France, some north of Marseille...
- Jacques Le Goff
Jacques Le Goff is a prolific French historian specializing in the Middle Ages, particularly the 12th and 13th centuries....
, historian
- Sabine Paturel
Sabine Paturel is a French singer and actress.-Biography:In 1986, her first single "Les Bêtises" stayed for 30 weeks in the French Singles Chart from March to October 1986, peaking at #2 for several weeks and achieved Gold status...
, singer and actress
- Gabriel Péri
Gabriel Péri was a prominent French Communist journalist and politician.He was born to a Corsican family. Forced to give up his studies at an early age, he immersed himself in political activities, and wrote for newspapers in Aix-en-Provence and Marseilles...
, journalist and politician
- Brigitte Roüan
This article borrows largely from a New York Times profile of the artist.Brigitte Rouan is a French film director and actress.-Early life and career:...
, film director and actress
- Cyril Saulnier
Cyril Saulnier is a French tennis player who is currently ranked 301 in the world.His career-high singles ranking is 48th and was reached on March 21, 2005.-Singles Titles:...
, tennis player
- Didier Tarquin
Didier Tarquin is a French cartoonist and scenarist.Born on the 20th of January 1967 in Toulon, he spent the first ten years of his life in Touggourt in the Sahara desert. He chose to become a cartoonist during a cartoon summer camp...
, cartoonist and scenarist
- Joëlle Wintrebert
Joëlle Wintrebert is a French writer. She primarily writes science fiction, but also writes children's literature and journalism...
, writer
Twin cities
HerzliyaHerzliya is a city of 84,200 residents located on the central coast of Israel. It is part of the Tel Aviv District. Named after Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, Herzliya covers an area of 26 km²...
,
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
La SpeziaLa Spezia is a city in the Liguria region of northern Italy, at the head of La Spezia Gulf, and capital city of the province of La Spezia. It is one of the major Italian military and commercial harbours, located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, since 1958
MannheimMannheim is a city in Germany. With 327,318 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg after the capital Stuttgart....
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, since 1958
NorfolkNorfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 234,403 as of the 2000 census, it is Virginia's second-largest incorporated city behind its eastern neighbor, Virginia Beach....
,
USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, since 1988
KronstadtKronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt is a Russian seaport town, located on Kotlin Island, thirty kilometers west of Saint Petersburg near the head of the Gulf of Finland. It is under the administration of the federal city of Saint Petersburg and is also its main port...
,
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, since 1996
KhemissetKhemisset is a city in Morocco, population 111,971 . It is situated on the A2 motorway between Rabat and Meknès , and is the capital of the province Zemmour....
,
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
, since 2005
External links