Levant Island

Île du Levant (), sometimes referred to as Le Levant, is a French island in the Mediterranean off the coast of the Riviera, near Toulon. It is one of the four that constitute the Îles d'Hyères. Part of the island is occupied by the naturist resort of Heliopolis and the rest is under military control.

History

Ancient history

In the early Bronze Age the deposits at Petit Avis attest to the intermittent passage of man. Then in the Iron Age, in Liserot Cove, in the 7th century BC the occupation remains transient. It becomes permanent there only from the sixth to the fifth century BC. Then, after a long period of abandonment, it was inhabited again in the 1st century BC; Greek and Ligurian dishes were found on the island.

Modern history

Monks lived on the island beginning in the 15th century; the ruins of their monastery still exist on the island. From 1861 until 1878, the island was a penitentiary for young offenders and orphans, of whom 89 died here. A plaque (located on the military part of the island) commemorates them.

In 1931, Gaston and André Durville, both doctors, established Héliopolis, Europe's first naturist village, on the island. As the doctors Durville said in 1931 Template:Quote

Geography

The island is Template:Convert, and located in the Gulf of Lion. About 90% of the island is reserved for a military missile test centre (the Centre d'Essais de Lancement de Missiles) which has launched numerous research and testing rockets since its establishment in 1948. The remaining 10% is open to civilians.

The village was built on hillsides and is dominated by Fort Napoleon. The village has a post office, a village hall, a chapel and a police station as well as a grocery, a bakery, and two galleries. The port area houses the office of the Capitaine du Port, a clothing store and small general store. In between there is a bazaar (Le Bazar d'Héliopolis) offering food, hardware, a tabac and a cafe bar. There are a number of hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, and eight restaurants (Le Gecko, La Fourmi, La Palmeraie, La Gambaro, Héliotel, Le Minimum, La Pomme d'Adam, La Bohème), all catering for naturists.

File:Ile du Levant.jpg

The military zone is shown in red on the map of the island.

File:Île du Levant - sandy beach.jpg

Plage des Grottes at Île du levant

Climate

Île du Levant has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). The average annual temperature in Île du Levant is Template:Cvt. The average annual rainfall is Template:Cvt with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around Template:Cvt, and lowest in February, at around Template:Cvt. The highest temperature ever recorded in Île du Levant was Template:Cvt on 7 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was Template:Cvt on 10 February 1986.

Culture

File:Beach sign Île du Levant 03886.JPG

Sign at the trail to the beach

B&W advertising drawing. The first years of naturism, then the sea and an island in the background.

Illustration of an advertisement from the newspaper Naturisme Nudity place in English, 1931.

The Bain de Diane and the Plage des Grottes (a nude beach) are reserved for naturists; nudity is formally obligatory there. Being nude is allowed (and expected) everywhere on the public area of the island, except in the immediate vicinity of the harbour. In the harbour, it is formally necessary to wear what the French jokingly call Template:Langx,Template:Efn often a pareo or a string. In conformance with the relaxed atmosphere of the island, this rule is not really enforced, but generally well observed. Inside restaurants outside the village centre, some clothing, although often flimsy, is often worn but toplessness (for women and men) is quite accepted there and le minimum considered sufficient attire; on the outside terraces, nudity is common, especially at lunchtime. At least two restaurants, La Fourmi and Heliotel, actively encourage customers to be nude, even at dinner.

The island sees a number of scuba divers; they generally do not take part in the nudist lifestyle.

The non-military part of the island is private property. The owners form the Association Syndicale Libre des Propriétaires à l'Île du Levant.

Outside Héliopolis naturist village the main tourist attraction is the Domaine des Arbousiers, a voluntary natural reserve of Template:Convert, established on 3 December 1993.

The island can be reached by boat from Hyères and from Le Lavandou. As no cars are allowed on the island (except for some four utility cars), these ferries do not take cars.

In popular culture

A 1956 film by Werner Kunz was called Isle of Levant and featured so-called "nudist camp" footage.

The island is used as a setting in the Robert A. Heinlein novel Glory Road and in the Mario Reading novel The Music Makers.

The island was mentioned in Are You Being Served? episode "Hoorah for the Holidays" as a presumed destination for Captain Peacock's annual vacation. Miss Brahms calls it "a nudist colony" but Captain Peacock insists it's a "nature camp".

The island, and a nod to its nudist history, was also featured in the French film Nos Futurs (Our Futures).

It was also the setting for a short story, The Reluctant Nudist, featuring Leslie Charteris' character The Saint. The Reluctant Nudist appeared in the collection published as The Saint Around the World

"The Incompleat Guide to the Île du Levant", Henry N. Manney III and Russell Brockbank (illustrator), Road & Track, March 1964.

See also

• Cap d'Agde
• Euronat (naturist resort)
• CHM Montalivet
• Naturism in France
• List of French naturist beaches (In French)
• List of social nudity places in France, Europe
• Platais Island
• Naturism
• Wreck of Rochelongue

External links

• Levant Island tourism
• Ile du Levant official tourist informations
• https://web.archive.org/web/20151222173256/http://www.iledulevant.com.fr/en/
• Ile du Levant
• Ile du Levant Chronology and Launch Log
• Ile du Levant Naturist Web Site
• Map of the island in JPEG format, from the Hyères Office of Tourism