Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez (; "" in Provençal dialect) is a town on the French Riviera, west of Nice in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Saint-Tropez was a military stronghold and fishing village until the beginning of the 20th century. It was the first town on this coast to be liberated during World War II as part of Operation Dragoon. After the war, it became an internationally known seaside resort, renowned principally because of the influx of artists of the French New Wave in cinema and the Yé-yé movement in music. It later became a resort
Saint-Tropez for the European and American "jet set" and tourists. The inhabitants of Saint-Tropez are called "" (), and the town is familiarly called "St-Trop" (). In 599 B.C., the Phocaeans founded Massilia (present-day Marseille) and established other coastal mooring sites in the area. In 31 B.C., the Romans invaded the region. Their citizens built many opulent villas in the area, including one known as the "Villa des Platanes" (Villa of the Plane Trees). The first name given to the village which became Saint-Tropez was Heraclea-Caccaliera, and the mouth of its gulf was named the Issambres. The town owes its current