The history of Antibes Juan-les-Pins is several millennia old, an exceptional place that has certainly served as a town for more than 2,000 years. Ligurians, Ionians, Phoenicians, Etruscans and other Oxybiens frequented the town, before the Phocean Greeks installed themselves here in the 5th century B.C. to found a trading post.

Given special privileges by the Romans for supporting Caesar against Pompey, the wealthy Antipolis became Antiboul with the arrival of Christianity, and the installation, in 442 A.D. of Saint Hermentaire, first bishop of the town. The dark years of the Middle Ages, which saw barbarian hordes sweeping through Europe, did not quell the fierce determination of the people of Antibes to rest on their rock.

A pontifical and royal city, Antibes became a stronghold due to its proximity to Italy. Louis 14th supported the development of Vauban, which made the ramparts impregnable. No military campaign succeeded in conquering Antibes, neither that of 1707 or the siege of 1746, where the town heroically resisted fire from 2,600 bombs and 200 Austrian fire bombs.
Various national revolutions did not leave their mark on the town, which had only 5,000 inhabitants at the time.

When Napoleon disembarked at Golfe Juan, on his return from exile in Elba, the town was awarded the title “Good Town” for its loyalty to Louis 18th in expelling the emperor from the town. They also took possession of new armaments. Fresh winds blew, heralding the start of an incredible expansion. The annexing to France of the Comté de Nice and the creation of the department of the Alpes-Maritime, the demolition of part of the ramparts which had prevented expansion of the town, the birth of the new beach resort of Juan-les-Pins, new technology such as the railway and the car, which brought tourism to the Cote d'Azur, all projected ancient Antipolis into the dawn of the third millennium where we find ourselves today.