The fortified tower
An eleventh-century tower on the water, a refuge from pirates.
Idarvol — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Rüdiger Stehn from Kiel, Deutschland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · yves Tennevin — CC BY 2.0 · Helge Høifødt — CC BY-SA 4.0
**Two entirely different islands.** Sainte-Marguerite is larger and livelier: woods, trails and swimming, with the **Fort Royal** where the Man in the Iron Mask was imprisoned — better for families and a beach day. Saint-Honorat is smaller, quieter and contemplative: a working monastery, vineyards and silence, with no organised beaches or facilities. For one visit: Marguerite with a family, Honorat for stillness and history. Their boats leave from two different quays.
Entirely — the island's value is **natural and historical**: the silence, the pines, the sea, the medieval tower and the path around the island are open to everyone, and the abbey is a historic monument visited as any old church would be. The wine sold in the abbey shop is the monks' livelihood and is simply skipped. What is actually asked of you is respect for the quiet and modest dress inside the religious buildings.
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Twenty minutes by boat from the noise of the Croisette lies **Saint-Honorat** — a small island (1.5 km long and 400 m wide) owned and inhabited by **Cistercian monks** for some sixteen centuries: Saint Honoratus founded a monastery here around AD 410, and it became one of western Europe's most important monastic centres, producing bishops and saints, some of whom went on to Ireland and Britain. The island today has **no cars, no hotels and no shops**: pine and eucalyptus, seven small chapels, a nineteenth-century abbey, and an **eleventh-century fortified tower** standing right on the water — built by the monks as a refuge from pirate raids, and climbable for a view along the coast. The monks farm **eight hectares of vineyard** and make wine and liqueur from it, sold in the abbey shop — their livelihood. The atmosphere is genuinely silent and expected to be respected: this is a working monastery, not a leisure destination. Bring water and a hat; nothing is sold beyond the shop and the single restaurant.
An eleventh-century tower on the water, a refuge from pirates.
Eight hectares from which the abbey makes its wine and liqueur.
A car-free, noiseless island a stone's throw from the Croisette.
Île Saint-Honorat, 06400 Cannes