Hyères

Hyères, a town of Provence, in the French department of Var, on a southern hill-slope, crowned by a ruined castle, 3 miles from the Mediterranean, and 13 E. of Toulon by rail. Embosomed in palm-groves and orange-orchards, it is celebrated for the beauty of its situation and its mild, dry climate, and is therefore growing more and more in favour as an invalid resort between October and May. An English church was built in 1884 ; and since 1875 great improvements have been carried out in the way of drainage, water-works, boulevards, &c. Massillon was a native. Pop. (1872) 5881 ; (1891) 8347. Near the coast lie the wooded Îles d'Hyères or d'Or (anc. Stuchades). Here the heat of the climate is tempered by the sea-breezes, and the season seems an eternal spring. See Denis, Hyères, ancien et moderne (4th ed. Hyères, 1882).