The village was named after Canus Natus, a 5th-century Roman Catholic saint, who was a Roman clergyman born with white hair, a quirk synonymous with great wisdom at the time.[3] He was buried in Saint-Cannat, although there was no such place at the time, but soon enough several houses were built into a hamlet.[3]
In the 12th century, Archbishop Pierre mentioned Castrum Santi - Cannati in a paper.[3] In the 13th century, villagers turned on their archbishop and pledged allegiance to the lord of Les Baux, and then to the kings of Sicily (namely, Frederic III of Aragon, or perhaps Louis XIII).[3] This, however, only lasted three years.[3] In the same century, the Knights Templar established a settlement there.[3]
On 11 June 1909 a terrible earthquake, the largest ever recorded in metropolitan France, destroyed almost everything in the area.[3] Shortly after, the houses were re-built in the same architectural style.[3] Both in 1984 and 1994 huge floods ravaged most houses.[3]
It has retained several fountains dating back to the 17th and 18th century, the remains of the medieval ramparts and the château, which today houses the town hall and museum.[3] The Route nationale 7 bisects the village.
There is a polo club, Polo Club de Saint Cannat, opened in the 1970s.[4] It organises the Open d'Aix and the Tournoi de Noël every year.[5] There is also an entertainment park called the Village des automates.[6]
It is also home to the wineryChâteau de Beaupré, started by Baron Émile Double (1869–1938) in 1890.[7] The creek Budéou flows through the village.
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