Editing Toulon (section)

==Main sights==

===Old Town===

The old town of Toulon, the historic centre between the port, the Boulevard de Strasbourg and the Cours Lafayette, is a pedestrian area with narrow streets, small squares and many fountains. [[Toulon Cathedral]] is there. The area is also home of the celebrated [[Provençal markets|Provençal market]], which takes place every morning on the Cours Lafayette and features local products. The old town decayed in the 1980s and 1990s, but recently many of the fountains and squares have been restored and many new shops have opened.<ref>for the history of the Old Town, see Michel Vergé-Franceschi, Toulon – Port Royal (1481–1789). Tallandier: Paris, 2002.</ref>

===Fountains of Old Toulon===
<gallery>
File:Toulon Fountains 2.jpg|Fontaine du Dauphin, Place Paul Comte. The fountain, on the wall of the Bishop's residence, appears in the drawings of Toulon made for Louis XIV in 1668.
File:Toulon Place Puget Fountain.jpg|Fontaine des Trois Dauphins, Place Puget (1782)
File:Toulon Fountains 1.jpg|Fontaine de l'Intendance, Place Amiral Sénès, (1821)
File:Toulon Fountains 4.jpg|The Fontaine-Lavoir de Saint-Vincent, Place Saint-Vincent (1832), replaced the original fountain built in 1615. It had a fountain for drinking water and two basins, for washing clothes, one for washing and one for rinsing.
File:Toulon Faron3 P1440701-P1440708.jpg|View of downtown Toulon and Mediterranean Sea from Mount Faron
</gallery>
The Old Town of Toulon is known for its fountains, found in many of the small squares, each with a different character. The original system of fountains was built in the late 17th century; most were rebuilt in the 18th or early 19th century and have recently been restored.<ref>André-Jean Tardy, Fontaines Toulonnaises, Les Éditions de la Nerthe, Toulon, 2001.</ref>

===Upper Town of Georges-Eugène Haussmann===
[[File:Toulon place de la liberté-fontaine.jpg|thumb|left|Place de la Liberté.]]
The upper town, between the Boulevard de Strasbourg and the railway station, was built in the mid-19th century under [[Louis Napoleon]]. The project was begun by [[Georges-Eugène Haussmann]], who was prefect of the Var in 1849. Improvements to the neighbourhood included the [[Toulon Opera]], the Place de la Liberté, the Grand Hôtel, the Gardens of Alexander I, the Chalucet Hospital, the Palais de Justice, the train station, and the building now occupied by [[Galeries Lafayette]], among others. Haussmann went on to use the same style on a much grander scale in the rebuilding of central Paris.<ref>Haussmann was only prefect of the Var for one year, but the prototypes for boulevards, apartment buildings and parks he built in Paris were copied in many large French cities.</ref>

===Harbour and Arsenal===
[[File:Toulon Rade and Arsenal.jpg|thumb|View of Toulon, the Arsenal and Mount Faron from the Harbour.]]
{{Main|Military port of Toulon}}
Toulon harbour is one of the best natural anchorages on the Mediterranean and one of the largest harbours in Europe. A naval arsenal and shipyard was built in 1599, and a small sheltered harbour, the Veille Darse, was built in 1604–1610 to protect ships from the wind and sea. The shipyard was greatly enlarged by [[Cardinal Richelieu]], who wished to make France a Mediterranean naval power. Further additions were made by [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]] and [[Vauban]].

===Le Mourillon===
{{Main|Le Mourillon}}
Le Mourillon is a small seaside neighbourhood to the east of Toulon, near the entrance of the harbour. It was once a fishing village, and then became the home of many of the officers of the French fleet. Mourillon has a small fishing port, next to a 16th-century fort, Fort Saint Louis, which was reconstructed by Vauban.<ref>Michel Vergé-Franceschi, ''Toulon – Port Royal (1481–1789''. Tallandier: Paris, 2002.</ref> In the 1970s, the city of Toulon built a series of sheltered sandy beaches in Mourillon, which today are very popular with the Toulonais and naval families. The Museum of Asian Art is in a house on the waterfront near Fort St. Louis.

===Mount Faron===
{{Main|Mont Faron}}
Mount Faron ({{convert|584|m|ft|abbr=off}}) dominates the city of Toulon. The top can be reached by cable car from Toulon or by a narrow road that ascends from the west side and descends on the east side. The road is one of the stages of the annual [[Paris–Nice]] and [[Tour Méditerranéen]] bicycle races.

At the top of Mount Faron is a memorial dedicated to the 1944 Allied landings in Provence ([[Operation Dragoon]]), and to the liberation of Toulon.

===Vauban's fortifications===
[[File:Wikipedia-porte-italie.jpg|thumb|upright=2.0|left|The Porte d'Italie, built by Vauban. Napoleon departed from this gate in 1796 on his Italian campaign.]]
Beginning in 1678, [[Vauban]] constructed an elaborate system of fortifications around Toulon. Some parts, such as the section that once ran along the present-day Boulevard de Strasbourg, were removed in the mid-19th century so the city could be enlarged, but other parts remain.<ref>Michel Vergé-Franceschi, ''Toulon – Port Royal (1481–1789).'' Tallandier: Paris, 2002.</ref> One part that can be visited is the Porte d'Italie, one of the old city gates. [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] departed on his triumphant Italian campaign from this gate in 1796.

===Museums===
Toulon has a number of museums.

The '''Museum of the French Navy''' (Musée national de la marine) is located on Place Monsenergue, next on the west side of the old port, a short distance from the Hôtel de Ville. The museum was founded in 1814, during the reign of the Emperor Napoleon.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-24 |title=Napoleon Bonaparte - Biography, Facts & Death |url=https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/napoleon |access-date=2024-06-30 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref> It is located today behind what was formerly the monumental gate to the Arsenal of Toulon, built in 1738. The museum building, along with the clock tower next to it, is one of the few buildings of the port and arsenal which survived Allied bombardments during World War II. It contains displays tracing the history of Toulon as a port of the [[French Navy]]. Highlights include large 18th-century ship models used to teach seamanship and models of the aircraft carrier ''[[French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91)|Charles De Gaulle]]''.

The '''Museum of Old Toulon and its Region''' (Musée du vieux Toulon et de sa région). The Museum was founded in 1912, and contains a collection of maps, paintings, drawings, models and other artifacts showing the history of the city.

The '''Museum of Asian Arts''' (Musée des arts asiatiques), in Mourillon. Located in a house with garden which once belonged to the son and later the grandson of author [[Jules Verne]], the museum contains a small but interesting collection of art objects, many donated by naval officers from the time of the French colonization of Southeast Asia. It includes objects and paintings from India, China, Southeast Asia, China Tibet and Japan.

The '''Museum of Art''' (Musée d'art) was created in 1888, and contains collections of modern and contemporary art, as well as paintings of Provence from the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century. It owns works by landscape artists of Provence from the late 19th century ([[Paul Guigou]], [[Auguste Aiguier]], [[Vincent Courdouan]], [[Félix Ziem]]), and the Fauves of Provence ([[Charles Camoin]], [[Auguste Chabaud]], [[Louis Mathieu Verdilhan]]). The contemporary collections contain works from 1960 to today representing the New Realism Movement (Arman, César, [[Christo]], Klein, Raysse); Minimalist Art ([[Sol LeWitt]], [[Donald Judd]]); Support Surface (Cane, Viallat côtoient Arnal, Buren, Chacallis) and an important collection of photographs by [[Henri Cartier-Bresson]], [[Dieuzaide]], [[Edouard Boubat]], [[Willy Ronis]] and [[André Kertész]]).<ref>[http://www.var.fr/dispatch.do?sectionId=site/page_d_accueil_10772717277503/culture_10772718348439/mus_es_du_var_115338388885021/provence_m_diterran_e_115338435173725/toulon_1153919362639113&publicationId=art_1154005578556135 See the page about the Museum on the official site of the Museums of the Var] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205144402/http://www.var.fr/dispatch.do?sectionId=site%2Fpage_d_accueil_10772717277503%2Fculture_10772718348439%2Fmus_es_du_var_115338388885021%2Fprovence_m_diterran_e_115338435173725%2Ftoulon_1153919362639113&publicationId=art_1154005578556135 |date=5 December 2008 }} (in French)</ref>

The '''Memorial Museum to the Landings in Provence''' (Mémorial du débarquement de Provence) is located on the summit of Mount Faron, this small museum, opened in 1964 by President [[Charles De Gaulle]], commemorates the Allied landing in Provence in August 1944 with photos, weapons and models.

The '''Museum of Natural History of Toulon and the Var''' (Musée d'histoire naturelle de Toulon et du Var) was founded in 1888, has a large collection of displays about dinosaurs, birds, mammals, and minerals, mostly from the region.

The '''Hôtel des arts''' was opened in 1998, presents five exhibits a year of works by well-known contemporary artists. Featured artists have included [[Sean Scully]], [[Jannis Kounellis]], [[Claude Viallat]], [[Per Kirkeby]], and [[Vik Muniz]].<ref>[http://www.toulon.com/musee/art/tabid/216/RemoteModuleID/690/Default.aspx#1794 See the site of the Museums of Toulon on the Toulon City Web Site (in French)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210001205/http://www.toulon.com/musee/art/tabid/216/RemoteModuleID/690/Default.aspx#1794 |date=10 February 2010 }}</ref>

===Other points of interest===
* [[Jardin d'acclimatation du Mourillon]]
* [[Tour Royale, Toulon]]