Antibes, along with Marseille and Nice, is one of the oldest towns along the coast, founded as a trading post by the Phocaean Greeks. It was a small walled town called Antipolis, the 'city opposite' or across from Nice on the other side of the bay.
In medieval times, it was called Antiboul and was the eastern most outpost of the Kings of France, looking across the Baie des Anges to Nice, the westernmost outpost of the Dukes of Savoy. Fort Carré was built in the 17th century to defend the town and the kingdom and remains an imposing piece of military architecture.
The old town of Antibes retains the feeling of a harbour town and a working town despite the large number of tourists that descend here in the summer. Though every second building appears to be a restaurant or tourist shop on Antibes' High Street, behind it the working town of Antibes continues to survive.
It is now quite famous for servicing the Yachts large and small that continue to populate the harbour. The Harbour area itself has been established with this purpose in mind - rather than just being another fashionable harbour to be seen in on the Cote d'Azur. Which it exceeds in a remarkable way.
