About Byblos
1967-2007 Byblos: a legendary 40 years
Born of the boundless imagination of a Lebanese hotelier, the Byblos Saint-Tropez has, since 1967, been a luxurious oasis of international renown.
Its history is one of passion. 1967 - 2007: 40 years of adventure, fervour, and celebration… Become part of the legend

Byblos,in the beginning
Byblos, the ancient and noblest Phoenician city, the “Mother of writing”, the inspiration in name for the World's best-selling book: the Bible.
Europa, the Phoenician princess, seduced and carried off by a white bull: the amorous God Zeus transformed.
Symbol of passion and exaltation, she has become the figurehead of the hotel she inspired: the Byblos itself encircles a mosaic representing “the abduction of Europa by Zeus”.
One owes both this witty tessellation of place and person and the original inception of the Byblos, to Jean-Prosper Gay-Para, a Lebanese developer. Owner of two of Beirut's largest hotels and the renowned nocturnal establishment “Les Caves du Roy”, he dreamt of “a palace unlike any other on the Mediterranean”.

Let there be Luxury
In 1967, it took a true aficionado of the Var coast to convince the village folk here, that the construction of a luxury hotel on the city's highest hill right beside the ancient citadel, was not to be a work of lese-majeste.
Some local sensibilities were lukewarm to the idea, but the village like Europa herself, let itself be gently seduced. "This will be a new departure for Saint-Tropez," wrote its mayor, Jean Lescudier. "The flood of international society will find here the luxury and comfort it demands … A comfort that Saint-

Tropez will presently be able to offer all year round." And so began the huge construction of this Phoenician hotel in Saint-Tropez styling, a challenging architectural genre far removed from that of the luxury hotels of Cannes and Monte Carlo. Surrounding himself with a team of accomplished professionals - three architects: Messrs Auvrignon, Monnin and Sicardon, and two decorators: Messrs Denis and Sassouni for the night club, the extraordinary adventure began. Covering an area of 5,500m2 (60,000 square feet), the hotel resembles a typical Provence hamlet. An assemblage of small structures, embodying all manner of details and eccentricities. Roman roof tiles and layered tile cornices, in the manner of the region; wrought iron balconies and facades in vibrant colour fountains and small paved squares; a centuries- old olive tree, palm trees, bougainvilleas and jasmine; a courtyard, a sizeable swimming pool, a wet bar; shops under the arcades; a couple of restaurants and a night club. Hard to envisage a more complete catalog of amenities for the luxury hotel that thought itself a village.

On the 27th of May, 1967, a thousand guests were present at the inauguration of the Byblos, and numerous amongst them were leading figures from political, artistic and literary circles. The full team was present to welcome the invited throng hailing from Saint-Tropez, Paris and the Lebanon, and at their head, Jean-Prosper Gay-Para accompanied by Médéa his wife, and manager Francis Ducluzeau. Amongst the crowd was the writer Françoise Sagan, the Academician René Clair, and Maurice Escande, director of the Comédie Française, France's bestknown theatre company; Bernard and Annabel Buffet, Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Barclay, the Mayor of Saint-Tropez, Jean Lescudier, Mr. and Mrs. Jean-Paul Roy, Prefect of the Var, and Gerard Khoury, the Lebanese director of tourism; Alexandre, prince of hairdressers and hairdresser of princesses, Paco Rabanne, Jean Cacharel, and Lucien Barrier of the Casinos of Cannes and Deauville. And of course,

let us not forget the two leading lights of this place and of the event: Brigitte Bardot and Mireille Darc. Guests, all of whom were enchanted both by what they saw and by the sumptuous evening.The celebrations were to become continuous. Just a couple of months later, Les Caves du Roy were similarly inaugurated: Jacqueline Veyssière and Cissé the gatekeeper, threw open the doors to the temple and a thousand-strong horde again filled the place. That evening was to define Les Caves du Roy: the highlight of any night in Saint-Tropez, and exalted amongst the world's nocturnal revellers.