Sainte-Maxime was founded around 1000 AD by monks from the Lérins Islands outside Cannes. They built a monastery and named the village after Saint Maxime. Fishing was the economic mainstay for the inhabitants but during the early 19th century increasing amounts of lumber, cork, olive oil and wine were shipped to Marseille and Italy.[2]
The village grew and in the 20th century began to attract artists, poets and writers who enjoyed the climate, beautiful surroundings and azure blue water. In front of the old town is the characteristic tower, La Tour Carrée, built by the monks in the early 16th century to protect the village from invaders. With an addition of a battery of cannons and with the Tour du Portalet in Saint-Tropez the whole bay was protected. As late as in the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon ordered a restoration of the battery while also adding cannons on the Lérins Islands. The tower is now a museum.