The building, built between 1883 and 1890, sits on a rocky outcropping overlooking the confluence of the Tinée and the Var, north of Nice.

The treaty of 1860 brought Nice and Savoy under French control and forced the French army to redefine its plans for defending the southeast border with Italy. The young Italian State, unified by the Piedmont royal family, sought to make its mark by controlling its territory with fortifications on the Col de Tende and through a trade and customs war. A policy of systematic opposition to France led Italy to join the Triple Alliance in 1882.

Séré de Rivières, in charge of establishing a line of defence along the northeast border, expanded his system to the Italian border, as he was well aware of the threat: “Since, through a series of annexations made possible by French policy, the King of Piedmont has become the King of all of Italy and rather than having neighbours who are incapable of causing us any umbrage, we are in contact with a first-class power, the Alpine border has taken on great importance.”

The first step consisted in controlling all the approaches to Nice, transforming the city into a resistance position. Nice played the role of the core surrounded by a line of defence made up of forts set up on natural outcroppings, within shooting distance of each other. It quickly became necessary to push the line of defence closer to the border.

A second fortified line was set up, rounding out the system of strategic roads started in 1877. It should be pointed out that his predecessor, Engineering General Frossard, had already planned in 1862 to defend Nice and to control the gorges of the Var and the Tinée with a system of two “chuise” and four forts.

The “explosive shell crisis” made the “first generation” of the Séré de Rivières forts partially useless.

The Fort du Pic Charvet, or Picciarvet, is a typical construction in the system. It is part of a vast defensive system comprising 158 forts and 254 artillery batteries in charge of safeguarding the border.

The Fort du Pic Charvet is a protective fort. The building is surrounded by a ditch that protects the west side, which is more vulnerable. It is defended by caponiers. No large façades are visible. Only a few walls and a cannon ramp can be seen. The heavy machinery includes four 120-mm cannons, heavy weapons to ensure the fort’s role.

With the law of 22 December 1889, General Baron Berge created the “Alpine batteries” each of which was to be paired off with the Chasseurs Alpins battalion at the nearest fort. These batteries are equipped with the 80-mm De Bange cannon, called the “mountain gun”, a rifled cannon that could be broken down into three loads of approximately one hundred kilos which can be transported by mules using a packsaddle: the carriage, the pointer extension with the wheels. This cannon has a range of 4,100 metres. The 65-mm mountain gun replaced it in the end. This is a fast-firing gun with an articulated carriage. It weighs 400 kilos. It is made up of four loads for mule transport: the gun, the brake, the pointer, and the wheels. Its maximum range is 5,500 metres and its firing speed can reach 10 to 15 shots a minute. The fort was occupied until World War II by the 18^th battalion of Chasseurs Alpins.

Syndicat d'initiative de Villars sur Var

Tel.: +33 (0)4.93.05.32.32

Tournefort Town Hall

Tel.: +33 (0)4.93.02.90.56

Access: on foot, take the path from the village of Tournefort

Association Montagne et Traditions

Gateway to the sites and museums preserving the memory of the last three wars in the Ardennes department, the Museum of War and Peace in the Ardennes is located at Novion-Porcien.

Built by Agence Trois Arches at the initiative of the Ardennes Departmental Council, this site was inaugurated in July 2003.

Occupying four thousand square metres in two complementary spaces on the ground floor and on the first floor or mezzanine, national and local military aspects of the wars of 1870, 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 are presented.

The visitor reaches the museum from the East through an enclosed, semi-underground space.

The ground floor lets you experience the main events of the conflicts through ten large scenes, each accompanied by an explanatory video. The tone is set with the charge of Prussian infantry, the best trained and best equipped army of the day when Napoleon III declared war on Bismarck and Wilhelm I’s Germany after the Ems Dispatch. Then comes the fighting at the house of the last cartridge in Bazeilles, a village 8 km from Sedan where commander Lambert’s group of seventy men stood up to 2,300 Germans in September 1870.

World War I is depicted through the life of German and French troops in the trenches. The soldiers had left home with "flowers in their gun barrels", but found themselves in a war of positions in which men on both sides dug underground to protect themselves, giving rise to the figure of the French “Poilu” who suffered the rigors of the seasons, shortages and bloody attacks, which in the end led to mutiny.

This visit through five tableaux gives an idea of the military aspects of the last war. Everyday life on the Maginot Line during the Phoney War between September 1939 and May 1940, a fortified underground system desired by the French Army staff headquarters who were convinced that the Ardennes could not be crossed. Then "Case Yellow" is presented, the plan for invading France following the principle of the Blitzkrieg, a joint attack by armoured units and aviation that led to the Allied rout at Dunkirk and the establishment of the Vichy government after the armistice was signed on 22 June 1940.

Everyday life: STO (Service du Travail Obligatoire – Compulsory Work Service), deportation and resistance fill the next scene dedicated to the Allied landing in June 1944. The ups and downs and the importance of the logistical resources deployed to win the Battle of Normandy and the re-conquest of Europe form the narrative framework for the display of Anglo-American equipment such as jeeps, Sherman tanks, amphibious trucks and movable bridges.

Upstairs, the mezzanine lets you contemplate the scenes on the ground floor from a distance, but especially provides an initiation to the evolutions in warfare throughout history and the main progress made in weaponry. As before, information kiosks provide the scientific and technical explanations necessary for understanding each exhibit. The windows dedicated to changes in soldiers’ lives presents them in their uniforms, which trended toward keeping them invisible for the enemy, from red trousers to khaki outfits, not to mention the German feldgrau and the French bleu horizon, from the Pickelhaube (spiked helmet) and ceremonial uniforms to the Adrian helmet and the American M1 helmet, but also show their everyday life – packs and supplies, entertainment – and the progress made in health and hygiene – collective showers, toothpaste, shaving cream, etc.

The visit finishes with a look at the changes made in warfare through progress made in military techniques. Each main type is presented. You can take your time to delve into the revolution of rifled arms, cartridges, smokeless powder, shells, automatic arms and the machine gun (Maxim, Chauchat, M1 Garand), but also the continuity of ancestral battle techniques: knives, sabres, bayonets, and the headaches of cleaning out the trenches during World War I.

Museum of War and Peace in the Ardennes

Route Sery - 08270 Novion Porcien

Tel.: +33 (0)3.24.72.69.50

Fax: +33 (0)3.24.72.97.30

Motorway access, A4 to A34. Route de Sery.

Ardennes Departmental Council / General Directorate of Departmental Services /

Departmental Directorate of Tourism and Leisure Centres

Hôtel du Département

08011 Charleville-Mézières Cédex

Tel.: +33 (0)3.24.59.60.60

Fax: +33 (0)3.24.37.76.76 / +33 (0)3.24.52.48.02

Opening hours

The museum is open every day from June to September from 10 am to 7 pm

From 10 am to 12 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm from October to May, every day except Tuesdays

Annual closing: 15 to 31 January, 1 January, 1 May and 25 December

Admission

Adults: €5 Under 18, military personnel, job seekers, veterans: €3 Families (2 adults and up to 3 children): €14 Groups (at least 20 people) Adults: €3.50 Schools: €2 Children under 6: free

Audioguide services available in French, English, German and Dutch.

Guided tours by reservation. The Museum is fully accessible to the disabled

Other resources – A temporary exhibition room is used to expand upon and round out the permanent exhibit – An auditorium can hold 70 people for conferences and projections – A leisure area

Ardennes Departmental Council

The fort has several notable features, the most impressive of which is the covered interior road, bordered on either side by the facades of the barracks and a room which is completely reinforced.

At 497m, the top of the fort offers superb views of the Pays de Montbéliard (orientation table).

A fortification must meet a defensive need and make use of the human resources and materials available, and is bound by geographic and strategic constraints. Using the example of Mont-Bart Fort, we will analyse these points for the fortifications constructed after the Franco-Prussian war.

At the end of the 19th century, France's army was inferior in terms of numerical strength to that of its powerful neighbour.

France therefore adopted a defensive system designed by General Séré de Rivière to guard against another invasion.

Fortifications were constructed to compensate for inferior human resources.

Given the loss of a part of Alsace and Moselle, the defensive system had to be redesigned in the Vosges rather than being based along the Rhine. The major subjects under consideration were controlling channels of communications and preventing supplies from reaching the enemy army. The answer found was a network of forts which all protected each other. This curtain of forts was supported by fortified camps, which acted as stoppers to block the major roads, as at Belfort.

Experiences in 1870 had taught Séré de Rivière the importance of keeping the enemy at a distance. It was essential to build numerous forts, some of which would only be occupied in the event of a conflict. The network needed to be dense for the system to be effective.

Mont-Bart Fort lies at the southern extremity of the Belfort fortified camp, behind the confluence of the Allan and the Doubs. It overlooks Pays de Montbéliard, with the exception of the Ecot plateau.

Its defence was linked to Mont-Vaudois, Lachaux and Le Lomont forts, and the Roches battery. The gateway to Alsace was closed off by the forts. The roads, railways and waterways were controlled by the forts.

Should an army succeed in sneaking between the forts, it would rapidly be blocked because supplies would not be able to get through. Forts were constructed to resist the weapons which existed at the time.

However, weapons developed very quickly between the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Forts were modernised to keep up with these developments until the First World War.

Mont-Bart Fort
Rue du Mont-Bart - 25420 Bart

Tel: +33 (0)3 81 97 51 71 - Fax: +33 (0)3 81 96 23 85

Email: fort.mont-bart@wanadoo.fr

(Guided visits by appointment)

This limestone pre-alp range reaches heights of 600 to 800 metres. Its north-south orientation makes it a natural obstacle to invasions from the west and a travel route between Nice and the Vésubie Valley. These dry-stone fortifications were set up by French troops who invaded the County of Nice in 1747. It runs from Mont Férion to the sea, passing through Mont Macaron and the Terrier Plateau. The system includes a double line used as a shooting bench, equipped with redoubts. The most interesting vestiges are located on the Terrier plateau.

Trom the D 19

Montagne et Traditions Association

Quizz : Forts and citadelles

The Chuise de Bauma Negra belongs to the system for controlling the gorges that lead to Nice within Séré de Rivières' system. The fortification was constructed between 1884 and 1887 to block the way to Nice from la Tinée. The Chuise is situated at the narrowest point of the valley, in the Mescla gorges, just before the confluence with the Var. Its design is identical to that of the Chuise de Saint-Jean-de-la-rivière. It is a fort built into a dam.

The limestone valley of La Roya is a communications route that has been controlled in turn by the Sardinians, the Spanish, the Austrians and the French. The southern part was incorporated into France in 1860 during the reintegration of the county of Nice. Control of this border region allowed the regulation of Italian activity. In this respect, the fort provided support for the Fort du Pic Charvet. It is built on the right bank of the gorge, on the edge of the road. It combines concrete parts with a two-storey façade in stone cut into the cliff. The structure comprises two equipped floors next to the road. It has openings for 40 and 120 mm canons. Underground galleries lead to the gun shelters and firing posts that in turn lead on to the main road. Two rolling bridges, which could be moved from inside the fort, allowed the road to be cut off. It could house between 30 and 60 men. There was no separation between the stores and billets. On the left bank of the gorge, the engineer had planned to install mortars to catch the enemy in crossfire. The fort is not open to the public.
Belvédère Tourist information office: + 33 (0) 4 93 03 41 23 Saint-Martin de la Vésubie Tourist centre: + 33 (0) 4 93 21 28

The Chuise de Saint-Jean-la-Rivière is part of the system controlling the gorges that lead to Nice in the Seré de Rivières system. A combination of stone and concrete, this Chuise is a cave-fort dug out of the cliff. It is a small building cut out of the cliff in the Gorges de la Vésubie between Saint-Jean-la-Rivière and Le Suquet. Like the Chuise de Bauma Negra, it is part of the system controlling the gorges in the Nice hinterlands. These are barrier forts.

The Valley of the Vésubie, called the Switzerland of Nice, is the shortest (48 km) valley in the Nice hinterlands. The lower valley, starting at Saint-Jean-la-Rivière, makes its way through the gorges of the Alpine foothills before joining the left bank of the Var River through the Défilé de Chaudan. The Ligures used this passage and it was a busy route in the Middle Ages, as it is one of the main salt roads leading to Piedmont via the Col de Fenestre. In the 16^th century the Valley of La Roya became the preferred route. Two hundred years later, the region opposed the English, Sardinians and Austrians during the War of the Austrian Succession. During the French Revolution, the region gave shelter to those who refused military service, the “barbets”, who carried out guerrilla actions against the regular troops.

In 1860, the County of Nice and Savoy became part of France, bringing the Italian threat closer just after France had been defeated by the Prussians and Italy had been unified by the King of Piedmont. The failure of the system of defences, which was unable to protect cities from enemy fire, led Seré de Rivières to develop a new system based on the principle of forward defence lines protecting a central core. Fortifications were set up near the border, making use of natural obstacles to monitor, control and block the passages, with their layout determined by area covered by each one’s fire.

The building comprises two floors on the side of the road. It is equipped with 40 and 80-mm cannon openings. The underground galleries lead to shelters and firing positions that cover the length of the national highway. Two movable bridges that can be manoeuvred from inside the fort were used to cut off the road. It can house 30 to 60 men.

The fort cannot be visited.

Syndicat d'initiative de Belvédère: +33 (0)4.93.03.41.23

Saint-Martin de la Vésubie Tourism Office: +33 (0)4.93.21.28

Fortweb website on European fortifications

Constructed between 1887 and 1890, it operated in conjunction with the fort des Mille Fourches, which is a copy of it. The Redoubt of les Trois Communes, built later, protects them both. Its construction was brought about as a result of the Treaty of Turin of 1860. The Savoie and Nice had become part of France once more. The Valley of the Roya, a communications route running north to south in the heart of the Alpine mountain range, was shared between France and Italy. Sealing off the new border had thus become a strategic matter of utmost importance. This small fort was in response to the increase in power of the house of Piedmont, which was gradually uniting Italy under its strict control with Italy's entry into the Triple Alliance and its policy of fortifying the Tende mountain pass.

Le fort de la Forca belongs to the first generation of the Séré de Rivières system. A belt of forts, built upon natural obstacles at a distance of a few kilometres, provided a range of artillery cover to protect a town (or central nucleus) from 6 kilometres to the rear from enemy bombardment. La Forca is a small fort with a façade with very few openings. It is surrounded by a moat and flanked by concrete caponniers. The internal courtyard was replaced by a vaulted chamber. The redoubt of les Trois Communes, built later, protected them. It reflected the rise in tensions between France and Italy and technological developments in particular, such as the "torpedo shell crisis", which rendered some of the Séré de Rivières system obsolete. New projectiles came in the form of cylindrical warheads, which exploded in the open air, with steel replacing cast iron; the new mixes of explosives were more powerful and no longer created smoke; canons (Bange 155 mm and 220 mm) could fire further. Armour plating and surface stonework could therefore be pierced and obstacles on the ground (moats and parapets, caponniers etc.) shattered.
Belvédère Tourist Information office: + 33 (0) 4 93 03 41 23 Saint-Martin de la Vésubie Tourist centre: + 33 (0) 4 93 03 21 28 Access The D 2566 via the Turini pass, towards the resort of Camp d'argent and then Authion. Car park in les Trois Communes On foot from les Trois Communes car park

Ever since the 16th century, the glacial rock bar that blocks the Le Guil valley has been the site of a castle designed to provide cover for the side of Le Queyras that faces downriver. It would appear that the first castle constructed there dates back to the 11th century. Its role was to protect the valley from looters arriving from Provence.

Positioned at an altitude of 1,400 m, the construction looks over the Le Guil valley. Château-Queyras served as an outpost designed to stall the enemy and give the towns of Montdauphin and Briançon the time required to prepare their defences.
In 1692 the fort resisted an attack from the people of the Savoie, at which time Vauban decided to reinforce it. He recommended an enlargement and modernisation programme. He created an advanced redoubt on the northern side and also planned an extension to the fort in the western part. In 1700, he planned the construction of a new compound on the eastern side and the work was carried out in the 18th and 19th centuries.
He ordered the destruction of some of the buildings considered to be out of keeping with his plans as the narrowness of the premises prevented the accommodation of an expanded garrison to control the region. This monument combines the 14th century towers and square dungeon with a Vauban-style structure: a bastioned envelope, parapets with slits for firing and demi-lune entrance. The curtain has retained its watch turrets. Batteries were constructed downriver in the 18th century.
Mairie 05250 Château-Ville-Vieille Tel: + 33 (0) 4 92 46 86 89 Fax: + 33 (0) 4 92 46 82 00

This small fort was constructed rather belatedly in 1898, to complete Seré de Rivières' "second generation" system. It controlled access to the Col des Banquettes between the Fort du Mont-Agel and the Fort du Barbonnet. It served as their lookout post. Its construction came about during a period of intense Franco-Italian confrontation, marked by Italy's entry into the Triple Alliance in 1882 and the tariff war of 1888-1898.

The small Fort du Mont-Ours belongs to a group of covering fortifications. The defensive organisation in effect consisted of a "holding" or "damning" fortification designed to save on armed forces: it was more powerful and also staggered across the terrain, with two sub-groups of covering fortifications. The first type consisted of blockhouses, high altitude army camps and batteries that could be manned quickly and hold out until reinforcements arrived, whilst the second comprised of blockhouses positioned on the main access routes and provided the link between the forts of the first group.
The construction of this relay building was as a result of a development in military tools. The first factor was technical and saw the improvement in armaments and the manufacture of a more powerful shell with a delayed detonation known as the "torpedo shell", which rendered obsolete Seré de Rivières' heavy defensive system (moats, open air structures etc.). The second was related to the dissolution, in 1888, of the Defence Committee established by Adolphe Thiers. This was succeeded by the Upper War Council, which was more politically involved and decided to limit the allotted funding. Most of the forts on the south east of the line thus remained built in stone, with concrete being used as a priority on the structures on the northern part of the line, which were geographically and militarily more exposed, especially in 1902 when France signed an agreement to neutralise potential Italian aggression. The military leaders preferred to increase the number of relay stations, high altitude stores and forces along the border. That is why the Army of the Alps was set up from 1887 onwards. It would gradually come to permanently occupy the military sites.
The fort consists of a single main building with two floors, with a surrounding wall that overhangs its immediate edges. Below there is a collection of walls sloping beneath a platform designed to support light artillery. A track leads to one of the blockhouses of the Maginot line. The site is currently occupied by the fire service.
The period between the wars was only to strengthen these strategic positions in the face of Mussolini's irredentism. In 1925, General Degoutte, the appointed commander of the Army of the Alps, drew the Upper War Council's attention to this threat. A Committee for the Defence of the Borders was formed. It was presided over by General Guillaumat. The first works on the southeastern Maginot line of the "redoubt programme for the defence of Nice" were started in 1927 under the impetus of General Degoutte. In 1930, funding for the construction of the Maginot line was approved and the execution of the work was assigned to the Committee for Organising the Fortified Regions (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées or CORF).
The Committee for the Defence of the Borders suggested 75 forts of several types: "Sturdy" well armed and well equipped structures; intermediary forts of the main line of defence, whose armaments complement the former; artillery forts and, behind the line, "shelters" (3 types) where troops would be accommodated between battles. In April 1934, fortress troops, battalions of detached alpine fortress infantry regiments and alpine fortress battalions were set up. These troops were complemented by artillery and specialist units.
In 1937, in order to contain the Italian threat, the Caval plan hastened the reinforcement of the most exposed zones. In 1939, France could rely on an (incomplete) system of two lines of defence, consisting of 36 casemates in the southeast. The second fort at Mont-Ours is a result of this initiative. Like all the large forts in the area, the blockhouse was equipped with 81 mm and 75 mm mortars. Priority was given to underground transmissions, both radio and optical. Supplies and munitions arrived in small trucks.
Useful information Sospel Tourist centre: + 33 (0) 4 93 04 15 80 / + 33 (0) 6 85 96 72 88 Edelweiss Association Access By car via the col de Segra and the col des Banquettes Pedestrian access to the platform from the col du Castillon

Colmars-les-Alpes is a mountain village in the Alps of Haute Provence, located in the high valley of the Verdon between the Col d'Allos and Saint André les Alpes and controls the border with the Savoie river Ubaye via the Col d'Allos. Its military history bears witness to its strategic position: the village is surrounded by ramparts and guarded by two forts. At the end of the 14th Century, Colmars-les-Alpes was in fact a border town with the territory of the Duke of the Savoie, who was in alliance with the Spanish. Its situation on an outcrop in the valley forced the people and the authorities to modify and complete their defensive system. In the 17th Century Colmars-les-Alpes was provided with the system of well-developed fortifications that gives it its current appearance. The system, conceived from the recommendations of Vauban, who never went to the town, demonstrates the adaptability of the architect's plans to suit existing structures and the terrain.

The collection of fortifications comprises the town and a large walled enclosure marked by monumental gates, supported by the Fort de France and the Fort de Savoie. This plan was suggested by Niquet, who was director of fortifications for Provence. Initially, the town was enclosed by fortified towers, which Vauban considered to be too weak. He therefore suggested flanking the square with two forts. These structures were built by Richerand.
Downstream, from the side of the entrance to the town, Fort Calvaire or the Fort de France was built to a square plan.
Upstream, Fort Saint-Martin or the Fort de Savoie was built, which was trapezoid in shape. It was flanked by a tower whose lines were criticised by Vauban - his recommendations were not followed. The Fort de Savoie, perched on a hill to the north of Colmars-les-Alpes, was built from 1793 onwards. The building was a contemporary of the citadel at Entrevaux. It was supposed to contain any invasion from the Savoie. It could house up to 150 men.
Access is via the D 908 which links Saint André les Alpes to Barcelonnette The fort de Savoie is open in July and August Guided tours every day at 10 am Tourist Information Office: + 33 (0) 4.92.83.41.92 The Fort de France is not open to the public