This modern city, branded by critics as superficial, grew up from a small fishing town on the south coast of France. In the 11th century, Cannes was owned by monks, whose budget, fattened by wealthy pilgrims, allowed them to expand beyond their monastery to the nearby Island of St Honorat. They built a square tower on the top of the hill, as a lookout post for Saracen pirates. It still stands, next to the Castre Museum, in the heart of Le Suquet, Cannes’ Old Town that was built on the site of a Roman military camp. The fishing tradition lives on and fish caught at the Vieux Port – to the west of the Palais des Festivals – are brought daily by the fishermen to the covered Forville Market, where they are sold by their wives, who rarely fit the city’s glamorous image.