Explore Toulon

The Toulon branch of France's National Maritime Museum stands beside the naval arsenal and is entered through the arsenal's carved main gate of 1738. Its collections trace more than four centuries of the port and the French navy through ship and galley models, carved wooden ship decoration and marine paintings.

Toulon Cathedral, Notre-Dame-de-la-Seds, is the seat of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon in the old town. Its Romanesque church of the 11th century was enlarged in 1654–1659, the classical façade was added in 1696–1701 and the bell tower in 1737–1740. Inside are an altarpiece of 1682 and paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries, among them an Annunciation by Pierre Puget.

The Tour Royale is a round artillery tower at the entrance to Toulon's harbour, built from 1514 to 1524 on the orders of Louis XII to designs by the Italian engineer Gian Antonio della Porta. About 60 metres across with walls 7 metres thick, it later served as a prison; the city bought it from the navy in 2006, and a seaside park now surrounds it.

Mont Faron is a 584-metre limestone mountain rising directly above Toulon and its harbour. A cable car climbs from the city to the flat summit, which can also be reached by a narrow one-way road; up there are 17th- to 19th-century forts, a memorial to the Allied landings in Provence of August 1944 and an animal park.