Built from 1602 onwards as part of Provence's fortifications for the defense of the seaboard against a possible Spanish attack, the central tower of the citadel of Saint-Tropez is characteristic of the coastal fortifications of the 16th and 17th centuries. Surrounded by a large enclosure around 1620-1630, the fortress underwent, during the following centuries, numerous maintenance and improvement works of its defensive system and the living conditions of its garrison. It was decommissioned in 1873 when the replacement of cannonballs by shells made its ramparts ineffective.