The promenade and its villas

In 1838, the sand bar which surrounds the old Barre district saw the building a stone defensive wall to protect the town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The wall became the must-see promenade of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which runs along the emblematic seafront of the seaside resort. The promenade is like an open-air architecture catalogue which includes Belle Epoque architecture (exemplified by Villa Germaine) and neo-Basque architecture (Villa Ugaina and Villa Stella Maris) that is best seen from the private footbridges alongside it. Further along, the promenade includes the modernist cruise-ship style Pergola complex and post-war compact apartment buildings.