Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

Les Adrets-de-l'Estérel Les Adrets-de-l'Estérel (, literally ''Les Adrets of The Estérel''; , before 1962: ''Les Adrets-de-Fréjus'')Puget-sur-Argens and Roquebrune-sur-Argens. In the second half of the 19th century, the township came under the influence of Mayor Felix Martin and writer

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (24 November 1808 – 29 September 1890) was a French critic, journalist, and novelist. Life Karr was born in Paris to German pianist and composer Henri Karr (1784–1842), and after being educated at the Co ...

; owing to their efforts and its beneficial climate the commune developed into a seaside resort popular with artists, sportsmen and politicians. It is the seat of the canton of Saint-Raphaël, also encompassing Fréjus and Les Adrets-de-l'Estérel, which is the economic and cultural centre of Eastern Var, within the arrondissement of Draguignan. Its inhabitants are called ''Raphaëlois'' in French generally, or ''Rafelencs'' in Provençal Occitan.

History

In 1799

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and his forces arrived by ship from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, prior to his ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

'' in Paris, and landed at a fishing village that was the ''commune'' of Saint-Raphaël. The coastal double-track rail link between Saint-Raphaël and

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, on August 15, 1944, it was one of the sites of a beach landing in

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil), known as Débarquement de Provence in French ("Provence Landing"), was the code name for the landing operation of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15Augu ...

, the Allied invasion of southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

.

Population

Geography

Saint-Raphaël is located at the extreme eastern end of the Var, along the border with the adjacent ''département'' of Alpes-Maritimes, which occupies the far south-eastern corner of France at the frontier with Italy. The commune has a total of thirty-six kilometres () of Mediterranean coastline, owing mainly to the many coves and creeks formed between the natural region of the Esterel Massif ( Massif de l'Esterel) and the sea. This places it second only to Marseilles, with fifty-seven kilometres () of coastline. The commune is 89.59 km² in extent. It is almost completely urbanised in the west, but includes over 60 km² of protected areas of natural forest and the Esterel mountains. Saint-Raphaël has four large sandy beaches: one near the city centre, called the Veillat; one at Boulouris; one at Le Dramont, and the fourth at Agay. There are two smaller ones at Anthéor and Le Trayas.

Rivers

Saint-Raphaël is separated from

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

by the River Pédégal: fed by the Garonne, the Adrets-of-l'Esterel, Saint-Jean-de-Cannes and Saint-Jean-de-l'Esterel. The River Agay flows from the mountains down through the village of that name, and is fed by the streams Cabre, Perthus and Grenouillet. The Grenouillet is the most important of these streams, having average flows of between 43 cu m/s in July and 1160 cu m/s in January. The River Valescure, which is channelled through the ''Barrage des Crous'' (dam), discharges into the River Reyran at

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

.

Mountains

From east to west the commune has several mountain summits rising from the massif. Mont Vinaigre in

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

stands at , Rastel d'Agay at , Pic de l'Ours (carrying a transmitter aerial) at , Pic du Cap Roux at , and Pic d'Aurèle at . Situated almost entirely on the Esterel Massif, the commune sits on soil of red porphyr, which makes for very picturesque scenes along the coast where the soil and rocks are exposed on cliff faces and rocky shores. Three important and spectacular rocks dominate the seascape: Cap Roux at , Saint-Pilon at , and the Rock of Saint-Barthélemy.

Adjacent places

Immediately to the west and north-west of Saint-Raphaël lies the ancient town of Fréjus. To the north lie the hamlets of Saint-Jean-de-l'Esterel et Saint-Jean-de-Cannes, both within the

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

commune. To the extreme north-east, beyond Le Trayas, is the small resort of Miramar, lying within the commune of Théoule-sur-Mer. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south of the whole Saint-Raphaël commune.

Climate

St. Raphaël is located on the Côte d'Azur and enjoys a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, humid winters. The Mistral wind occurs, although sometimes the town is sheltered from this by the Massif des Maures and the Esterel. It is perhaps more exposed to the Levant (strong, easterly, wet) or the Sirocco (very strong, southerly, hot) air flows, but these occur rarely. The wind velocity record was established on 30 January 1986, with gusts of per hour.

Travel

Rail

The town's modern rail station is named Saint-Raphaël-Valescure and offers national, regional, and local train services: * High-speed TGV and Ouigo trains - from Paris-Gare de Lyon (destination Nice) * Night trains - from Paris-Gare d'Austerlitz (destination Nice) * Lines 03 and 06 of TER Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - from Marseille-Gare Saint-Charles (destination Nice) * TER Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - local stopping service to Cannes from Les Arcs

Air

International scheduled air passenger services are available at: :

Nice Côte d'Azur Airport Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionMarseille Provence Airport: . Private, commercial and freight services are conducted at: : Cannes – Mandelieu Airport: twenty kilometres (). : La Môle – Saint-Tropez Airport: thirty-four kilometres ().

Bus

Saint-Raphaël is well served by bus routes, and has a busy bus station in the town centre. :Express service by LER PACA - Route 21: Aix-en-Provence to Nice. :Fast service (1 hour 15 mins) to Nice Airport by S.V.A. (Société Varoise d'Autocars) :Departement (County) services by SodeTrav (La Société Départementale des Transports du Var) :Routes 27, 28, 31, 53 and 104 :Town services by AggloBus Fréjus/Saint-Raphael - Routes 1a, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10.

Distances

*Fréjus: *Agay: *Sainte-Maxime *Draguignan: *Saint-Tropez: *Cannes: *Brignoles: *Nice: *Toulon: *Monte Carlo: *Marseilles: *Montpellier: *Lyon: *Perpignan: *Paris: *Bordeaux:

International relations

Saint-Raphaël is twinned with: * Jermuk,

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

*

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, since 1958 * Sankt Georgen im Schwarzwald,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, since 1972 *

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, since 2007

Gallery

file:Saint_Raphael_Notre_Dame_de_la_Victoire.jpg, The Church ''Notre Dame de la Victoire''. file:Saint_Raphael_Tour_1.jpg, The tower built into the old church San Rafeu. file:Saint_Raphael_Tour_2.jpg, The medieval tower. file:Saint_Raphael_Gare_routiere.jpg, The new central bus station adjacent to the railway station (Gare SNCF). file:LIleDOrEnOr.JPG, L'Ile d'Or

References

External links

*
www.ville-saintraphael.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintraphael Communes of Var (department) Populated coastal places in France

History

Population

Geography

Rivers

Mountains

Adjacent places

Climate

Travel

Rail

Air

Bus

Distances

International relations

Gallery

See also

References

External links