Musée de la Tour Carrée

"In the year of grace 1520, Messire François de la Rivière, Reverend Father of the Abbey of Le Thoronet, began the construction of a tower on the seafront, to ensure the security of Sainte-Maxime.

40 years later, in 1560, Abbot Jacques Ursin of the Abbey of Le Thoronet ordered two additional floors. For fear of pirates and the wars of religion, the craftsmen only raised the tower by one floor before fleeing.

The construction of the last floor was resumed in 1856.

From 1969 onwards, it was restored to its original appearance as a tower with exposed stones, once the layers of plaster and rendering had been removed.

Throughout its history, the Tour Carrée has been used as a seigneurial residence, a gun tower to protect the Gulf, a granary, a prison (as evidenced by the narrow open dungeon in its walls), a school and a town hall (from the Revolution to 1935).

From 1985 to 2018, it housed the Museum of Local Traditions.

In 2018, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Bravade, the Mayor, on behalf of the Municipal Council, symbolically handed over the keys of the Tour Carrée to the Association de Maintenance des Traditions Maximoises.

Since then, the association has taken possession of the premises where the Bravadeurs can meet throughout the year.