Last modified: 2009-11-07 by ivan sache
Keywords: var | hyeres | castle (grey) | discs: 3 (yellow) | porquerolles | capte (la) | pesquiers (les) | letters: sncp (white) |
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![[Flag of Hyeres]](../images/f/fr-83-hy.gif)
Flag of Hyères - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 5 January 2001
See also:
Hyères (c. 40,000 inhabitants) is the oldest and southernmost(43°07' N)
touristic resort of the French Riviera (Côte
d'Azur).
The first colony in the area was established on the Mediterranean
seashore by the Greeks from Marseilles as
Olbia, later renamed by the Romans Villa Pomponiana.
In the Middle Ages, the coast was abandonned and the town was rebuilt
around a castle on one of the surrounding hills (therefore the center
of the modern town is not located directly on the sea shore). The
city was powerful because of its salterns and port, in which King
of France Saint-Louis (Louis IX) landed in 1254 on his way back from
the 7th Crusade.
The town was later under control of the Counts of
Provence, until incorporation of Provence
to France in 1486. The castle was demolished by order of King of
France Louis XIII in 1620, and Hyères was progressively
supplanted by the neighbouring town of
Toulon.
In the 19th century, Hyères was one of the prefered English
summer vacation resort. The town moved back to the beaches only in
the 20th century.
The poetess Anna de Noailles (1876-1933) owned in Hyères the Château Saint-Bernard, built by the architect Rob Mallet-Stevens (1886-1945), in which the coloured artistic society of the early 20th century met.
The plains around Hyères are covered with orchards (especially peach trees) and vineyards. Hyères is also famous for the production and exportation of ornemental flowers and palm-trees. The town seems to have recently added -les-Palmiers (the palm-trees) to its name. The scenic, narrow Giens peninsula and the islands of Porquerolles, Port-Cros and Levant (collectively known as Hyères Islands or Golden Islands) also belong to the municipality of Hyères.
Hyères owns a national velodrome where some of the famous French track cyclists train.
Ivan Sache, 5 January 2001
The flag of Hyères, as communicated by the municipal administration, is vertically divided blue-yellow with the municipal coat of arms in the middle.
Arnaud Leroy, 5 January 2001
The list of the clubs affiliated to Yacht Club de France shows the burgee of Cercle d'Organisation de Yachting de Compétition Hyérois (COYCH) (apparently, the image is very small) as white with a blue border and the black letters "COYCH". The "O" is surrounded by rays which form a sun.
Ivan Sache, 29 December 2004
![[Burgee of SNCP]](../images/f/fr-83~cp.gif)
Burgee of SNCP - Image by Ivan Sache, 4 June 2009
Société Nautique et des Pêcheurs Plaisanciers de La Capte Les Pesquiers (SNCP) is named after two villages located on the tombolo of the Giens paeninsula.
Letters Patented signed in 1651 allowed the inhabitants of Hyères to
build small houses in La Capte, which became a small fisher's village.
In 1936, after the set up of paid vacations by the government of the
Front Populaire, the municipality of Hyères organized in La Capte one of the first municipal campsites in France. Today a village with
c. 600 inhabitants, La Capte is a popular beach resort with a small
port pf c. 300 moorings.
The pond of Les Pesquiers, purchased by the municipality of Hyères in 1438 and once used for fishing, was transformed into a salt marsh in
the 19th century. Salt extraction ended in 1994 and the pond are today
a birds' sanctuary.
A photo, part of the "Dottignies in the World" project shows the burgee of SNCP painted on the clubhouse as blue with a white border and the white letters "SNCP".
Ivan Sache, 4 June 2009
Porquerolles is an island located off Hyères, and part of the
municipality of Hyères.
The list of the clubs affiliated to Yacht Club de France shows the burgee of Yacht Club de Porquerolles (apparently, the image is very small) as blue with a white disc placed along the hoist. There is a blue charge in the
disc, which unfortunately cannot be distinguished.
Ivan Sache, 29 December 2004