Brief History Of Sete

The Saint Louis lighthouse and jetty constructed by Pierre-Paul Riquet in 1666. Image published under the GNU Free Documentation License, verison 1.2 or later

Mont Saint Clair, the site of modern day Sete, has been used by passing sailors as a navigational point of reference since antiquity.

However, the mountain and surrounding area were sparsely populated. Apart from a few fishing villages, the only settlements were established by pirates looking for quiet hideouts.

The town of Sete was only conceived in 1596 when Henri IV ordered the construction of a coastal port in order to strengthen military control of the Languedoc and boost regional exports.

However, apart from the construction of a fort on the summit of  Mont St. Clair by the Duke of Montmorency, nothing was achieved until over seventy years later when Louis XIV revived the project for similar reasons.

The construction of the first jetty commenced on 29th July 1666, the date of the foundation of Sete. The Royal Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Etang de Thau, was cut at the same time.

The festival of Saint Louis. Image published Image published under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 license

The first naval jousting tournament was also held in Sete on 29 July 1666 in celebration of the port's foundation. A similar tournament, the Festival of Saint Louis, is still held annually in August.

Sete grew in importance after the Canal du Midi was completed in 1681. The canal connected the Etang de Thau to Bordeaux via Toulouse and thus enabled goods to be transported between the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

In 1710 Sete was briefly occupied by a British fleet until recovered by a French army under the command of the Duke of Noailles.

The ease with which the British had taken control of the town prompted improvements in its defences and Fort St. Pierre, now the Theatre de la Mer, was constructed on adjoining cliffs.

The population of Sete increased as the town developed. The scarcity of labour during the mid-nineteenth century led to large-scale immigration from the Neapolitan coastal villages of Gaeta and Cetara.

A further wave of immigration occurred during the 1960s when many French expatriates returned from Algeria and invested heavily in the local fishing industry.

Sete has in the past also been known as Cette, Sette, Septe, Cete and Cept. Its current name was assigned by ministerial decree in 1928.

 2007 LACT Limited. All rights reserved

Aigues-Mortes   La Grande Motte   Pezenas   Pont du Gard   Saint Gilles   Saint Guilhem-le-Desert   Uzes