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Furnaces, forts, fires, faros (the latin word for a lighthouse)... it is difficult to make head or tail of all these words
Six-Fours has always been a galaxy of hamlets. There are today three ports: Six Fours, the Coudoulière and the Brusc. And other projects…
You cannot miss the port: the Six Fours fort can be seen from both sides of the Saint Mandrier peninsula. It stands at an altitude of 291 metres right in the middle of a wooded zone. It is protected from the rapid urban development around as it is in a military zone.
It would be exaggerating to say it is beautiful. It does not have the charm of Middle Age fortresses or the look of Vauban citadels. Built in 1875 after the defeat against the Prussians in 1870, it is the archetype of “modern” military art that we will perhaps find beautiful in a few centuries.
In building the fort we can criticise the builders for having expropriated the inhabitants of the old Six Fours and razed the fortified village, which had been there for a thousand years and the Sainte Marie de Cortine church to the ground. A Reason of State! The only building that remains is the Saint Pierre collegiate church from the 11th century, which is next to the fort.
A PLACE WITH NO HISTORY?
When you near the coast, do not naively look for furnaces. The name is misleading. There are indeed four possibl
e etymologies for this name, which nevertheless appears to be quite simple. It was mentioned for the first time in 963 “Septem Furnos” and then in 1035 “Sex Furnos”. According to the interpretation you have of medieval ecclesiastical everyday Latin it means “furnace” (furnus), “fort” (fortis), “fire” (focus) or “lighthouse” (faros)… The choice is yours.
Everybody on the other hand seems to agree on the number six. There were indeed six hamlets situated at Lône, at Brusc, at Cap Nègre, at Peyron, at Croton, and the sixth and largest at Six Fours. This hamlet extended out to the entire Saint Mandrier peninsula until 1657.
As legend would have it, because of the presence of all these forts and of the castle of yesteryear, the area is full of secret underground passages… It is better to keep quiet about it though as according to the editor of a historic research site on the commune when asked the question “what important events occurred in Six Fours? One is tempted to answer NOTHING. Which is already quite exceptional”. In any event, the inhabitants of Six Fours do not lack a good sense of humour. (visit the excellent site http://six-fournais.com).
PEBBLES AND COUDOULIERE
In Provençal, the Coudoulière means a pebble beach. To the south-east of the Cap Nègre headland on the commune of Six Fours, the Coudoulière is a small port (boats under 11 metres) along a beach, which is protected by two riprap breakwaters. This proximity 
ensures that the port is well sheltered. However, access may be difficult during strong westerly winds as the channel is oriented to the south you are obliged to turn and sail beam to the waves. You also have to be careful of the shallows to starboard.
There was a brickyard there in the beginning. It was from this spot on the shore that the bricks were loaded on the vessels. A small fishing activity in the same place led to the construction of a sea wall in 1905. The yacht harbour has been there since 1996.
Once a year a second-hand boat salon is organised on the car park in front of the harbour.
Talks are underway to build a third harbour on the commune on the other side of the Nègre headland: Port Méditerranée would have approximately one hundred berths.
THE BRUSC GANGUI
The Brusc harbour is situated at the bottom of the bay, after having left the Embiez archipelago on the starboard side. This huge harbour, which is sheltered by the islands, is a wild mooring area with mooring buoys for numerous small boats with low draughts. It has existed since ancient times.
The bay towards the Grand Graou island is blocked with stakes, which are the relics of the former mussel production site (it is now a Natura 2000 protected natural zone).
It is a former “madrague” – a site for tuna fishing with a specific type of net (see the article on Saint Cyr on pages 4 and 5). It is also said that it was here that another type of net, the Gangui, was developed. This is what an inhabitant of Six Fours, who has a keen interest in history, told us, The gangui was apparently invented by Brusc fishermen in 1580. (…) But this type of fishing was so successful that the consuls of Toulon sent a request to the Court of Auditors and obtained a decree prohibiting gangui fishing. The inhabitants of Six Fours continued this lucrative fishing activity and the consuls of Toulon protested again. In an order of 2 June 1581 delivered in Brignoles, the Court decided to send experts to examine the nets, which took place on 10 November of the same year. The experts held “that whereas the said nets captured a large quantity of fish which would unstock the sea, it was necessary to designate a separate zone for them to fish in which would not prejudice the other fishing boats in use in the seas of Toulon and Six-Fours”.
Who said that history does not repeat itself?
