Today, everyone sees Cannes as the world capital of cinema, the city of spangles and starlets, gold and yachts (often immobile), glitter and stars. It is a paradisiacal holiday venue for the wealthy and mighty, the stir of international conventions and also, in summer, the thrill of holidaymakers treading on the red carpet of the Festival Hall steps, with their head in the stars.
This effervescence should not, however, make us forget the long centuries of isolation in which generations of inhabitants of Cannes, farmers and fishermen, experienced a harsh, insecure and often dangerous life.
Although the people of Cannes were poor, they had an immutable treasure, a providential gift in their enchanting environment under clement skies with a mild climate. The beautiful Bay, the harmonious site, the setting of the hills providing a shield against winds from the outside, the promontory overlooking the beach, the two islands hugging and protecting the coast, a conjunction that has always fascinated and attracted people... from the dawn of time.

Our ancertors the Ligures

The ancient Greek historian Polybius, who lived in the 2nd century BC, mentions the town of Aegyptna, destroyed by the Romans. Some so-called ‘historians’ of Cannes, desirous of acquiring illustrious ancestors, have identified it with Cannes, but specialists now agree that this cannot be and no one is certain of its location.
What we do know is that, in protohistoric times, the first visitors were Ligurians. They were probably the first to settle on the promontory (Le Suquet), where they erected a fortified oppidum. From this belvedere, they could observe their fellows who had also fortified their position on the rocky eminence on the Isle of Sainte-Marguerite where the Fort Vauban now stands.

Our islands, centres of ancient life

In fact, ancient writers were mainly interested in the islands. It should be said that our islands, at a maritime crossroads, offered remarkable assets. For sailors from the west, they provided the last safe anchorage, in the shelter of cliffs and an easily defensible promontory. It was an ideal maritime trading position, since the smaller of the two islands has freshwater springs perfect for ‘l’aiguade’ (filling up with water), far from the inhospitable coast.
The first archaeological research revealed evidence of human occupation since the Neolithic, with a greater presence in the early Iron Age. Georges Vindry’s more recent excavations in the 1970s showed that there was a perched fortified settlement at the end of the 6th century BC, an acropolis that preceded a true urban settlement with public buildings.

Lero, Lerina… Lérins

These important remains confirm the writings of ancient authors who mentioned that our islands were a major stopover on maritime itineraries. The most explicit is the Greek traveller and geographer Strabo (who lived at the beginning of the Common Era), who gives the name of the larger island: Lero (hence the Isles of Lérins). He alludes to a sanctuary dedicated to the worship of a demigod the Greeks called Heros, whose best known personification is Heracles / Hercules.
A Latin author, Pliny the Elder, born a generation after Strabo, gives the names of both islands and that of the acropolis; he mentions “Lero and Lerina (the smaller of the two) across from Antipolis (Antibes) where the oppidum of ‘Vergoanum’ is remembered.”
Thus, archaeology, ancient writings and toponymy (the study of place names) - indicating that the roots Ler, Lero and Verg are of pre-Latin origin - converge to confirm the existence of a large Ligurian settlement.
The centre of maritime trade with its major temple compound must have been very lively indeed. Our Ligurian ancestors greeted pilgrims and engaged in commerce... It is said that they were also formidable pirates.