Memorial of the landing in Provence, War memorial and museum on Mont Faron, Toulon, France

The memorial on Mont Faron documents the landing operation through exhibition rooms displaying photographs, scale models, weapons, and uniforms from that period. The collection provides an overview of the military operations and the forces involved in the campaign.

General de Gaulle opened this memorial in 1964 to mark the twentieth anniversary of Operation Dragoon, the Allied landing in southern France. The choice of this date and location underscores how significant this moment became for French history.

The memorial's full name honours both the 15 August 1944 Allied landing and the liberation of Provence. Its annual ceremonies have drawn foreign heads of state: in 1994, fourteen African presidents attended the 50th-anniversary naval review, reflecting the role of colonial troops in the campaign.

The site sits atop Mont Faron and offers broad views of the surrounding area from this vantage point. It makes sense to allow enough time for your visit, as there are both interior spaces and outdoor areas with military equipment to explore.

The memorial reuses the Tour Beaumont, a small coastal watch fort built in 1845; architects Pierre Pascalet and François Carpentier attached low buildings to it. From 1958 the tower housed a museum of Toulon's liberators, opened in 1959 with the cable car and run for 32 years by the Centre culturel et touristique du Faron. Its first curator was Constant Colmay, a Compagnon de la Libération who had landed in 1944 as a naval fusilier officer.